The Rose Prince
by Kaji Hikage
Summary: A mystery surrounds the beloved roses of Serenity, a seven year-old princess. However, as all stories must, this one will come to an end and the mystery will unravel itself over obstacles, in friendship, and through time. And of course, she will have help
1. Chapter One

I ask that you read this and review it, if only so that I know I'm not writing this only for myself. I'm positive some of you fellow writers out there know exactly how utterly depressing that feeling is and how unpleasant. So, now that I am through pleading, etc, here is the first chapter of this fic. Note: I work all the Senshi into this. (Yay for the Outers!) And, disclaimer: Sailor Moon is not mine.  
  
The Rose Prince  
  
Chapter One  
  
An ocean of black stretched out above her, sprinkled with bursts of silvery light. All the stars seemed to be lit by that same celestial aura that seemed untouchable by way of mortal hands, a visual gift of the gods that humans were destined never to hold, only to see.  
  
To be able to clasp such a serenity, even a small one such as the stars at such a great distance seemed to offer, would have been too much. Still, their loveliness was enough to please the young girl who sat beneath them in a garden. Her platinum blond hair seemed to covet the moon's luminous beams that made it appear to be a silvery white, letting it shine down upon her, causing her hair to look like shimmering waves of moonlight. She was a veritable fairy, sitting there, her knees bent beneath her and a pale white skirt laying softly over them, covered in flower petals of all different colors.  
  
They were lavender, yellow, white, peach, and pink, but mostly, they were red. This was not the garish red like that of an almost orange ruby, but instead a deep crimson, more akin to the depth one might find in a garnet's facets. Cupping one in her small, moonlit hands, the girl was careful not to prick her fingers, lest she bloody the white dress she wore; her mother not be amused if she did.  
  
Lifting her entire face to the moon's soft light, her face basked in it, making her eyes seem the color of earth's blue waters and her skin the ivory white of its clouds. Perhaps she wasn't fairy. Maybe instead, she was an angel fallen from the stars, having lost her way to her palace in the heavens.  
  
But no. She was neither fairy, nor angel. Still, she was exquisite to look upon, even for a child of less than eight years. If she sat there, poised as she was and did not move, a passerby would have thought her to be some master artist's greatest work, a statue of immaculate etherealness. A slight sigh escaped her small mouth as she stood and gently let the petals fall from her skirts, the sound carried away by the silence and the flowers taken away by a sudden breeze of warm spring air. It was definitely past her bed time and if her mother found her gone she would make her do something absolutely awful, like embroidery; she winced at the thought and shrugged-well, never mind about that because the point in the young girl leaving the garden at that moment was to avoid the entire thing. Turning from the large and many brambles of thorns and colored petals, the beautiful child who was neither fairy nor angel slipped quietly back to her home.  
  
Quietly shutting her bedroom door, she jumped lightly into her feather bed and pulled the finely made and beautifully colored blanket over her, up to her small chin and smiled. Whenever she came back anything within a yard of her smelled like those roses she so loved. Even the immense room with the gilded mirror and tall ceilings and finery that would normally have smelt of a rustic dusty aroma, was filled with the flowery scent. And, as the child drifted to sleep, she failed to notice a single crimson petal that had stubbornly stuck in her mane of hair.  
  
The room smelled of roses.  
  
Sunlight warmed its way in personified coils of soft yellow beams through the child's tall French doors, and whispered their longing to do the same through her tall and curtain bound windows. Lifting one of her delicate hands, which on closer inspection in the morning's aurora revealed her skin to be a pale cream, not ivory white, she yawned. Its sound fluctuated in the large room and bounced off at her from different pieces of furniture but the girl ignored the echo until it simply could not bounce its sound any longer and faded away. She shifted her slight figure to the edge of her bed, which one could now see was enclosed in translucent silver curtains, a sleeping place fit for a princess.  
  
As the small flats of her feet touched the thickly carpeted floor, she raised her arms in a full stretch and then quickly made her way to the first window to the left of the French doors. Easily drawing the long opaque curtains of lavender back, she bound each side of them with the soft silver cord that hung docilely at each end. After doing the same for the equally sizeable window on the right of the French doors, the child placed both hands on the knobs and opened them. Stepping out joyfully onto the alabaster balcony, she rejoiced in the way a child tends to do for the simple happiness of being alive.  
  
The kind warmth of dawn permeated her skin to the depths of her physically small and spiritually boundless heart as she skipped to the edge of the balcony, leaning on the ledge and looking over it into the gardens below. Surely the gardens were brighter today than any other day. To her young eyes the reds were redder, the blues bluer, and every other color was more so its own as well. Raising her head to the skies, the child noted the soft swirls of the clouds that painted themselves on the canvas of cerulean blue.  
  
She knew it must be a perfect day. A frown quickly made its way onto her flawless face as the inevitable thought occurred to her: but a perfect day for what? Something fuzzy rubbed gently against her skirts that she still wore from the night before; the girl smiled as her gaze turned downwards and she saw a back of black fur. This was Luna, the kitten she had received not long ago as a present from some visiting duke from some distant planet (both facts, which the young girl found no particular interest in, or not more than the more important reality of a new playmate.)  
  
Ah, that was it. It was a perfect day to go riding. Since she was only a child, her ride was small, but it was no less beautiful than the finest of full-grown stallions or mares. This filly suited the child, with its coat of butter-cream yellow and white mane and tail. A definite fairy-tale horse befitting of a fairy-like girl, but she would have to do that later. She knew first things came first and to her chagrin, lessons came first. Turning away from the sunlight, the girl re-entered her bedroom, the cat at her heels. Flopping ungracefully back onto her bed, she pouted. Today was Vendredi, the day of Venus. That meant her lessons today consisted of the easiest, most menial, and utterly brainless of all: dancing-which it might be noted she could do, but did not enjoy-lessons, etiquette-which she could also gracefully pull off, the corners of her mouth turning down only when others were not looking-lessons, and worst of all, embroidery-which she could not do.  
  
Phooey. It was too beautiful a morning to waste on classes in her opinion. And, since she had no human companions, hers was the only opinion to consider, or so she came to the conclusion that it was in a familiarly childlike fashion. Her mother might have found it endearing if her daughter didn't come to the same conclusion every morning that didn't bear rolling clouds of gray and rain that threatened to break the windows of their home. Having woken up to the same beautiful dawn, the queen knew exactly what the heart of her heart was thinking and made her way to her chambers as quickly as possible, still dressed in her nightgown and robe, both of which were white.  
  
The resemblance between daughter and mother were as clear as the sky that day; like the angelic child, the mother had pale creamy flesh that held no blemishes and hair that was platinum blonde but appeared to be a silvery white in the moonlight. Like the child promised to be, she was tall and slender, her jaw line smooth, regal. With a graceful neck and finely sculpted face one would have to bend to her unearthly beauty. However, the crowning glory of this walking force of benevolence was the set of crystalline eyes that appeared even bigger than they really were, surrounded by her pale skin. They were somewhat lighter than her daughter's- which mind you, made neither one less or more stunning-and together, had their splendor renowned throughout the lands of all places.  
  
So, in this white robe and long gown for sleeping in, one could not help but still notice her penetrating attractiveness, nor the presence of power that came with her as she stood, poised outside of her daughter's bedroom door. A smile tugged at the corners of her pale rose lips as the door creaked open a moment; she flattened herself against the wall beside it. Sure enough, a small head of familiar platinum blonde hair poked outside the door cautiously. She surveyed the area as best she could for passing servants or guards, but most importantly, the lady hidden behind her door that, unfortunately for the child, she could not see.  
  
Letting escape a small sigh, the girl stepped out of the room and shut the door. She began to walk quickly away, the tall corridor making even her tiny footsteps audible, like whispers. Then suddenly her footsteps were not the only sounds there.  
  
"Princess Serenity," her mother called to her, her imperious voice echoing into her daughter's ears; if her voice had not been so warm, it would have been eerie, the effect that the voice made throughout the hall. Serenity turned to face her mother slowly, raising her head finally with her chin lifted a bit higher than normal. The queen smiled; her daughter was strong, even as a youngling.  
  
"Yes mama?" Her voice returned the echoes in the tenor voice tone of her years.  
  
"Where are you headed Serenity? The breakfast room is this way." The queen gestured smoothly behind her in the opposite direction of that which little Serenity had been going. Shifting lightly from foot to foot, her white skirts brushing against her legs, the princess shrugged helplessly. There was apparently no means of escape today; and it was only now that she realized she had failed to change from her bedclothes too and that they had small traces of dirt from the gardens.  
  
"Nowhere mama," she replied quietly and made her way back into her room to change. As the door clicked shut, Queen Serenity smiled kindly in her daughter's direction. She would have loved to give her child anything she wished for, and take away anything that so displeased her. And yet, as a princess she knew Serenity would be expected to know these somewhat frivolous things like embroidery, as well as the more in depth task of being a monarch of kindness that had been born within her, just as her mother had. So, she suffered the lessons through, knowing how much her daughter detested them, how much she would prefer the horse stables to her stuffy but elegant classrooms, how she cherished her childhood freedom, for the Queen had felt the same way.  
  
She could only hope Serenity would keep her childish whims that made her so endearing and love that gave her sweet courage through anything-even embroidery, the Queen thought with a tentative smile. After all, what made her so pure was her encompassing adoration of life and her easy acceptance.  
  
Brushing a section of her long hair behind her shoulder, Queen Serenity left the entrance of her daughter's chambers and went to get some more suitable attire for the day; the Queen in her night clothes was not exactly an appropriate thing for the breakfast table in any case.  
  
Soon after breakfast, Serenity's dreaded lessons began. At least today there would be another girl there. Normally it was left alone to little Serenity and her rubber band teacher. Actually, her teacher's real name was Lady Oron but to Serenity she had been and always would be Rubber Band. Her reasoning was that the lady had the appearance of one who looked stretched out, by the skin. It was more or less the result of many wrinkles in the woman's respectable age, but Serenity was convinced that the lady was made of rubber and so, she called her that.  
  
Step to the right, and right, and right and full turn, and right, and right, and right, and step forward and half turn and.  
  
It continued like this, the young servant boy chosen to be her partner whirling easily through the motions, having done them many, many times under the strict eyes of Lady Oron in order to be a perfect partner. Regardless of the fact that the little princess knew the pattern inside and outside and backwards and sideways, she stepped on the poor boy's feet more than once, mostly out of frustration.  
  
The lessons had begun so quickly she had not been able to meet this other girl who danced with another boy, not but a yard apart from her and her partner. Serenity was perhaps stepping on this servant boy's feet also as a result of trying to look past him and attempting to get a clear glimpse of the girl, ignoring the listen greatly, if not entirely. Then, as they did another rotation Serenity got her wish. She caught her breath; the princess was beautiful.  
  
Now, it had not occurred to Serenity that she was beautiful too, perhaps even more beautiful than this other girl because that was not the way she thought. If her hair was the way her mother wanted it and if she was as clean as her mother wanted her to be, and if her poise was perfect in order to please her mother, that was what she saw: the need to please her mother and success. A child seldom thinks of their own beauty or lack thereof because it is out of character for them. Seldom do they care if their clothes have specks of dirt or their hair is messy and tangled, so long as they are happy and the people around them are too.  
  
Noticing someone else's beauty was an entirely different thing however. And Serenity was indeed correct, for the girl was nothing short of lovely. It was a unique look, her short dark hair framing her face of fair skin and ocean blue eyes. Still, it was entrancing, magical, and it reminded the princess strongly of the stories she had read about faeries and nymphs. After one final blow to the servant boy's foot, Serenity's dance lesson was over for that day and she wasted no time, heading straight over to the girl. She tapped her on the shoulder and the girl faced her, smiling kindly. Serenity smiled back and curtsied flawlessly in greeting.  
  
"Hi. My name's Sere. What's yours?" she asked boldly, using her nickname instead of the too formal princess title. She had to look slightly up, because as she had found on nearing this girl, she was slightly shorter than her. The princess found this somewhat disgruntling, but waved it out of her mind as she waited for the girl's response.  
  
"Nice to meet you Sere. My name is Ami," the girl replied, curtsying in return and still smiling. Serenity, or rather, Sere, shuffled her feet for a moment, suddenly unsure of whether or not this girl would actually want to be her friend. After a moment's thought, she gave an internal shrug and inhaled deeply. If she didn't make an attempt now, she might never have a human friend, and be closed off to only a feline companion-this was in no particular offense to Luna who she adored dearly.  
  
"Um, I was thinking, these lessons mama has for me are so boring. Do you want to skip the next class with me? I know the best place to go," Sere leaned in close, her voice excited and jubilant, and the light in her eyes shining merrily. Ami for her part was slightly taken aback at the idea of missing a class, though she could see the lack of importance in them. But old habits are hard to break and Ami bit her lip; what would her parents think if they found out? And surely they would find out. It was only a matter of time. Then she looked slightly down at the princess who had turned her head down and calmly folded her pale hands in front of her, the fingers wringing one another in anxiety. Forgetting any and all pretense or sincerity of fear of her parents thoughts of her missing two silly classes, which surely they knew they were, she held out her hand to Sere.  
  
Sere blinked and looked up; she had been trying to hold back small tears when she had seen Ami's indecisive expression and actions, convinced that she had appeared as an annoyance. Seeing the smile that made Ami's eyes look all the bluer and brighter, she smiled as she heard her sweet voice accept the invitation and in seconds Sere was leading Ami through the corridors of the palace, which was her home. Silently they made their way through various passages, making many turns and numerous stops to avoid being seen.  
  
Ami had to admit to herself that for the first time in her young life, she felt like she was having fun with this sunny girl, who's nature seemed to embody happiness. As Sere led her through one last door, light shone down upon her and she momentarily shielded her eyes; it was so bright! She uncovered her eyes to see Sere twirling in the entrance to the magnificent gardens that her kingdom was famed for. Sere had her arms widespread and her head uplifted; it was very picturesque with her long platinum hair whirling behind her and the skies above enhancing the green in the garden itself.  
  
Suddenly Sere stopped and offered yet another of her unreserved smiles to her newfound friend as she once again took her hand and led her into the depths of the garden. It was a matter of minutes that took them into the middle of the hedge maze of a garden. An alabaster fountain with five levels held sparkling pools of trickling water in their basins, overflowing in soft rivulets down the edges.  
  
"This is one of my favorite places," Sere said before wading into the fountain. Ami was surprised and her face showed it, her eyes widening. Sere only continued to splash in the fountain. She turned to Ami and beckoned for her to join her.  
  
"Mama says I shouldn't do this, but she never tells me why. I think it's fun," Sere said, up a bit past her waist in the fountain.  
  
"Fun?" Ami tested the word out.  
  
"Yep. It's nice and clean too. Besides, you like water don't you?" asked Sere. Ami nodded silently and sat on the edge of the pool, kicking her feet in it. It was clean and nice. Neither warm, nor cold, it was a good temperature- Water splashed her in the face and as she blinked it away and found a grinning Sere standing in the water not a yard away, she retaliated with an equally happy expression and burst of water.  
  
Laughter rang through the garden until the hours of their classes were well past. Both girls were resting their backs against the side of the fountain, still giggling. The sun had nearly dried their clothes out and it was a comforting warmth to be in. Sere was so peaceful that when her mother came walking into view she barely noticed, so quiet was her entrance. Ami noticed though and promptly stood and curtsied. Sere followed suit as she realized who it was and quickly moved in front of her friend.  
  
"It was my fault mama. I asked her to come with me," she said quietly, but boldly as was her nature and Queen Serenity was hard pressed not to smile at her daughter's protectiveness.  
  
"Is this true Ami?" the Queen asked. Ami shook her head.  
  
"I went with her because I wanted to, your highness," she responded quietly.  
  
"And did you have fun?" asked the Queen. Both girls nodded sullenly.  
  
"Then this will be our little secret. I'll see to it that your teachers are informed of your absence." Sere's happiness made her positively glow from head to foot, beaming at her mother. Ami likewise was both pleased and surprised.  
  
"But Serenity," her mother paused and Sere froze; her mother used her full name, and that might not bode so well for her.  
  
"Um, yes mama?" her voice was smaller than normal.  
  
"Don't miss any more classes tomorrow."  
  
"Yes mama."  
  
Sere was relatively okay with that. While classes following today were also boring, they were better than the ones she had conveniently missed. They were certainly worth the new friend she had made: Princess Ami. Her small face frowned that night though as she could not get to sleep. The moon seemed too bright and the wind too loud. So she crept out to her beloved rose garden and sat there, spreading petals over her nightgown as she had done in previous nights and rubbed her soft fingers against the velvety petals. Their scent was beautiful and calming to the little girl who, though she was a princess, until she had met Ami, was lonely. There were few people a princess was allowed to consort with, and so her friends had been none until the intelligent princess Ami had come to share the dancing lesson with her. It was a nice thought to her young mind and loving heart, a friend.  
  
So absorbed in her own thoughts, the child was infinitely startled when she heard a twig snap behind her. She turned her head and thought she saw a retreating form in the darkness. Standing quickly, she took off after the shadow, as fast as she could go. She ended up at the fountain. Her eyes darted around but she could find no one. Thoroughly confused, she went back to her room and fell into her bed and closed the curtains around it, not bothering to close the window curtains. She puzzled over the mysterious figure who she was sure was real and fell asleep in the light of the moon, shining down through her silver curtains.  
  
End part 1.  
  
Did you like it? I need reviews to know whether I should continue this or not. So please review or send me an e-mail at:  
  
Kaji@oz.zzn.com  
  
Have a nice evening. 


	2. Chapter Two

Good evening and once again DISCLAIMER: Sailor Moon is not mine. Also once again: please critique or ^_^ tell friends of yours about the story and have them read and critique it in your stead. Many thanks for those who so choose to take the time to do so!  
  
The Rose Prince  
  
Chapter Two  
  
"Why on earth are you asking me about catching a fairy?" giggled Ami quietly as she and Sere whispered beneath the droning of the Duchess who was trying to enlighten them with the wonders of-something that they weren't paying the least attention to. It was one day after she had seen the shadowy figure the first time and the morning after she had seen it a second time. Sere had tried an idea of her own to get it to come to her but at the end of the night she ended up having failed; and she had turned to Ami for another way.  
  
"Because I saw one in the garden," Sere replied solemnly. Ami looked dubious and then gave in, if only to appease her friend.  
  
"Well, I know that if I was your fairy, I wouldn't want to be seen. So, if the fairy thinks you can't see her, then maybe you can catch her off guard," offered Ami. Then the Duchess whirled on the pair and they were forced to pay rapt attention. Sere thanked Ami later before retreating to her own room to think.  
  
If it was a fairy, what could she feed her? Would she be her friend like Ami? Sere knew the fairy would be pretty but how old was she? She looked taller than Sere, or at least the shadow had looked taller than Sere. Only a little bit taller, Sere had convinced herself. It had taken Princess Serenity's best will to wear the traditional family hair style for the women; it involved separating her long silky hair down the middle and making two buns, one on either side of her head with a thick section of her hair streaming down from each. If her mother didn't look so graceful wearing it that way, Sere/ Princess Serenity would not have deigned to even try it; even as a child she had known it was particularly different. However, eventually grew rather fond of the style, and it became second nature to have her hair that way. However, she would never compromise her height. That was something she had always been touchy about, or at least since she had been able to frown-that age was probably about five name days old. Her mother insisted she was petite and adorable, and that as a princess, it suited her. Sere would have none of it.  
  
"One day I shall be as tall as the palace Mama!" she had declared at the age of six; that was one year ago and her sentiments were much the same. Regaining her train of thought, the princess decided that if the fairy was a little taller than her that was okay. It probably meant the girl was a year older than her. Maybe, Sere thought with a smile playing on her lips, she could be my older sister.  
  
And so the trap was set.  
  
Having asked Ami to help her, Sere was sure that this time she would not fail. The moon was a crescent that night and Sere hid in the shadows around its light. Ever since she had glimpsed that fleeting figure in the rose garden, she had looked for her again and again; the Princess assumed it was indeed a 'she' because she suspected the elusive figure of being a fairy. Who else would wander the gardens at night, alone? (besides her of course)  
  
It was not so much a trap as a new angle, and as Sere crept out of the shadows and into the center of the roses, she looked around briefly. No one, it seemed, was there. Her height was not very impressive for a seven year-old and as such, she barely needed to lean over to inhale the scent from one of the lavender roses on the bush. As was customary, she spread different colored petals on the skirts of her gown and sat down lightly. To anyone else it would have appeared as though her eyes were closed but in truth, she could see vaguely through her lowered lids. A shadow that had not been there moments ago now melded with the shadows of before. Of course it was too late; she had already seen the unnatural movement.  
  
Before the shadow could react, she stood swiftly and ran towards it. Not having thought anymore of the plan out, she did the only thing she thought might be able to suppress a fairy or a shadow-she tackled it. Both bodies hit the hard stone ground, Sere on top of course. Worriedly, she looked down at the figure in the moonlight on top of which she sat. She had not meant to be so forceful, but she had been trying to catch this shadowy being for a long time-nearly two years by her child counting methods-two days to any other form of counting. As she examined the supposed fairy closer, she frowned; did fairies usually have short hair, short black hair? Making sure that she had the upper hand, Sere shifted her weight off of the body beneath her. It groaned, rubbing its head. Sere's mind went haywire; this wasn't a 'she'; it was a 'he'. She shook her head sadly. It had been her greatest hope to find a fairy in her garden and play with her. Instead she had this poor boy who no doubt was in a bit of discomfort and probably would not be her friend.  
  
"Aw, whadya do that for girl?" the stranger asked, still sprawled on the floor, rubbing his head gingerly. "You've got some nerve you know," he added, though not contemptuously, more or less thoughtful.  
  
It was then that Sere noted this boy must be older than her, at least ten name days old, maybe a little more. Then he looked straight up at her; she gasped. He had the most amazing eyes she had ever seen. A new light of hope formed in the back of her mind. If he wasn't fairy-and obviously he was not- then that didn't mean he wasn't some other magical being, right? She applied this question to her own logic and came out with an affirmative. Maybe, she thought excitedly, he's a shape changer like in Mama's stories.  
  
"I asked you what did you do that for?" This time the boy articulated, catching Sere in the middle of another of her contemplations on what he might be.  
  
"Huh?" Her voice seemed very light in the presence of his-she quickly tried to lower it, to no avail- so she crossed her arms and stood up straighter, as though that might make up for the number of years he had over her. The boy might have chuckled in amusement but before he could, she was very near his face, staring inquisitively and with an uncomfortable scrutiny, which was explained in the next sentence she spoke.  
  
"Are you a demon?" she finally asked. It had occurred to Sere that maybe this boy with his dark hair and oceany eyes was a dark creature instead of a new playmate-her Mama's stories had those too. So, she wasn't sure whether to be scared or relieved when he laughed at her. Deciding neither was any good, she ended on the feeling of irritation, or as irritated as Sere could get at that age.  
  
"Why are you laughing at me? I'm not stupid like some of those princesses in Mama's stories! I even told her so once and she said so too! And, and-if you're a demon I'm not scared!" she finished defiantly. He was still laughing.  
  
She glowered at him, which was only possible because he was still sitting- comfortably it now seemed-on the stone ground while she was standing. As the last of his laugh died away, he looked straight at her once more.  
  
"Well, I know you're not stupid. But are you smart?" he asked her in ten- year fashion that insinuated that he had the logic of a child that all people seem to retain on average until they hit their fifteenth name day. Of course, some of the lucky ones stay that way forever. Sere was taken aback by his boldness for a moment and then, flustered, she answered with a boldness of her own.  
  
"I'm smarter AND braver than you are!" To her annoyance, the boy seemed to find this even more amusing and laughed once more, though this one was much shorter.  
  
"Oh really?" he challenged, eyes flashing with an intriguing light Sere in her naivety could not place as mischief. Not to be daunted, nor to be bested, she replied tersely but with as much conviction as she could muster.  
  
"Really!"  
  
For a moment the boy was silent and Sere was all too pleased to let him stay that way. This was definitely a demon, she decided, frowning fiercely at him. The boy only smirked at her, staring at her from underneath his unruly ebony bangs; he noted that her frown was one that seemed to disapprove of him to the full and utter extent of his mere existence. He continued smirking. Suddenly he stood and Sere noticed that he wore a long black cape over some light armor the color of the midnight sky. It wasn't much really but the tunic beneath was the same color; the only distinguishing mark between the armor and tunic was the glint of silver that indicated the edges of the armor itself.  
  
"Come on then," he said and with an absent wave of his hand began walking away.  
  
She on the other hand wore her soft, lavender nightgown with layered skirts; even her sleepwear had layers she sulked silently as she scampered to keep up with the boy's quick stride and lifted her skirts so as not to trip over them. The stars shone down upon the pair as they weaved their way through the garden to the North end where it exited into a widespread green area. Here the grass was exceptionally soft and not twenty feet from the garden's exit there was a shimmering lake. The lake had rocks sticking up through the middle, presumably to step on to cross the lake; Sere had never been to this part of the grounds in all her years. She did not know what the rocks were for and so when the mysterious young boy gestured for her to follow him as he leapt to the first rock, swaying only slightly, she did not move.  
  
"What? Are you scared? I thought you said you were smarter AND braver than me?" She knew he was taunting her but she didn't care. Children seldom live for anything but the moment and at that point in time, Sere lived to upstage this 'demon' and then tease him mercilessly about it afterwards. Moving towards the lake with the speed of her anger, she stomped her way over to the edge. She waited.  
  
"Well?" she questioned emphatically. He gave her a puzzled look, which for a moment turned sheepish and jumped to the next rock, no swaying included. Sere took a deep breath and examined the distance. Then, resisting the urge to squeeze her eyes shut, she leapt to the first rock, landing square in the middle. She grinned up at the boy with pride and a look that read I-did- it-you-stupid-boy! They jumped together until they nearly reached the end of the line. The boy would not say it aloud, but he was impressed. This girl was brave and definitely not afraid of the task he had set before her.  
  
The moon was still high in the sky but in its crescent form it did not spread as much light as Sere would have preferred. Shrugging, she watched as the boy jumped to the land from the last rock and she looked at her jump. It was larger than the others and as fate would have it, it was the rock she needed to get to in order to get back to blessed firma terra. Sere would not blind herself as many children might do; she knew full well she might not make the jump. Unfortunately, instead of doing the other thing other children might do-turn around and run away-she chose to try the leap. Otherwise this 'demon' she had acquainted herself with might never stop bothering her. She sighed; she had so hoped for a fairy. Oh well. Inhaling deeply, she leapt for it.  
  
And she made it too. The problem was that when she landed her foot slipped out from under her, sending her head long into the waters of the lake. It was not cold and for that Sere was thankful; after all the days of complaining about the swelteringly hot summer days, she was glad that the lake water seemed to still have remnants of the sun's warmth in its depths. The temperature though, would not have been the least of her problems. The fact that she could not swim might have.  
  
The boy was duly surprised when she made the jump and then went splashing into the lake. He was going to laugh when he realized she wasn't surfacing. This puzzled him until it occurred to him that she might not be able to swim. A minute later and he decided that was definitely the case. Without taking another second-which would have been most likely critical-he dove in and swam in the dark water, looking for a trace of lavender. It was lucky for him that he could hold his breath long. Meanwhile, Sere was not happy. In fact, she might have been scared-though she would never admit it-had she not been downright furious. Instead of noting that she could barely hold her breath another moment, she was dwelling on how best she could take care of that black haired, blue-eyed, over-confident 'demon' who had so easily taunted her into this whole mess in the first place. As her breath left her and her flailing arms felt something grasp them, her last thought was of getting her Mama to send the 'demon' to their deepest, darkest, dirtiest, and of course, smelliest dungeon. It would later occur to her that their palace had no dungeon.  
  
The boy dragged Sere up onto the grassy land near the edge of the lake; dead body weight was bad enough, but saturated dead body weight was somehow a great deal worse. She seemed okay, he thought on a close inspection. Sure her clothes were soaked, and her hair was out of the weird style it had been in previously; it had looked like two buns with streamers coming out of them on either side of her head. Now of course, it was in a tangled mess behind her and it was only at this time that he noticed how long it was- past her feet actually. Her eyes were closed and her pale skin now close to white, but she was coughing and as long as she was coughing, she wasn't dead-and that was what mattered, right?  
  
Sere sat bolt up, coughing the rest of the water out of her lungs. Then, she blinked, looking with unfocused vision at some blurred shapes before her; when she realized what it those shapes melded together to be, she attacked. Shooting off of her heels, she tackled the boy once more, growling something about being mean and awful and above all, annoying. The boy might have found it funny if she hadn't been trying to strangle him, and so instead, he was both insulted and equally annoyed.  
  
"You're the one who's smarter and braver! Aren't you? Well, how's I supposed ta know you couldn't swim?" he said after she exchanged her attempts to strangle him for trying to strike him. Through heated breaths, the girl swung another small fist at him as he stood quickly from his former position on the ground and evaded it.  
  
"If you hadn't teased me I wouldn't have had to prove it to you!" she yelled at him, upset and angry. Her small cheeks had regained their normal pale skin tone but also flushed with extra pinkness. She was very annoyed, very.  
  
"Who said anything about proving? I just asked you a question!" he insisted, lying and dodging her fueled punches with condescending ease that shouldn't have been possible for a ten year-old boy, even a demon.  
  
"Look," she said finally stopping to glare at him instead and continued, "If you hadn't been in my rose garden none of this would have even happened. Demons aren't allowed here. I know, because Mama said that they are bad creatures that trick people. So how did you get here?" The boy nearly fell over. She thought he was a demon. How odd. But his mouth was running away with him and not thinking-as many children tend not to do-he retorted rashly.  
  
"You're so stupid. And, and, spoiled. Before MY Mama died she read me all sorts of stories about beautiful princesses and how nice they were. You're obviously not either! And, I am not a Demon! I'm a Prince!" he said proudly. His pride was short-lived because Sere's temper was flaring once more.  
  
"Stupid? I am not stupid you Demon thing!" she cried angrily. But that was not the only reason she was angry. Even at the age of seven she knew she had just been called unkind and ugly. Those were two things she knew her Mama was not, but she had never thought about herself. Was she ugly and unkind? Well, to this Demon of a boy maybe she was. She momentarily convinced herself that she did not care.  
  
"Well, I'm not a Demon!" he replied tartly.  
  
"Fine!"  
  
"Fine!"  
  
Silence flooded the area and even the distant crickets seemed to stop, as the heated argument between the two children seemed to take priority over all else. Sere was glaring with all of her fury and the boy simply stood, looking down at her. The wind that swept through was warm like all night breezes in the summer but Sere shivered. The coldness of the water was only noticeable once one left the lake and she had left it what seemed like many, many minutes ago. Suddenly she felt her anger seep away from her and the cold come upon her, the coldness of her wet clothes, the coldness of being thought stupid, ugly and worst of all, unkind. Now that she thought about it, she had been very rude. Maybe all of this was all her fault. She held back a sniffle and shivered again. She turned away from the boy who claimed he was a prince and jumped back onto the rock she had fallen from before.  
  
"Wait, what are you doing?" the boy called after her. He had not meant to be so harsh; he did actually think she was very much like the princesses his mother had told him about, even pretty. And, he knew she could be nice. He had seen her with Princess Ami in the gardens before, when he had been looking once more for the way out, but that was another story. The point now was to apologize, and be the Prince his mother had raised for nine years of her life, and his.  
  
Sere made it all the way to the other side of the lake without mishap, shivering still and still sad inside. She turned to see the boy following her, and she made her speech as quickly as possible before running back into the gardens.  
  
"I am sorry. I did not think and was rude. I guess maybe you aren't a Demon," she paused and then added, "You are a Prince." Silently she added to herself, a Prince of the roses and gave him a wondering stare. And then she ran as fast as she could, into the garden, winding around its many corners and pathways.  
  
Leave it to me, she thought unhappily. I go looking for a fairy and I find a Prince, and not just any Prince! No! I go off and find the Prince of the Roses. As every child knew, the Prince of the Roses was one of the most powerful magical beings in the world and as such, Sere felt that insulting him had been doubly worse for the matter. Stupid, stupid, stupid, she cried at herself inside, thinking and knowing full-well that her mother would have at least had the grace to walk away with her dignity, not run away like a frightened cat-no offense to Luna. In her child's eye she saw herself and all the mistakes she had made in the course of a few hours and all the things that not only were bad for normal children to do, but nearly unthinkable for a Princess. And then the moment of her contemplation, thick with confusion and physical shivers, was no more. I don't care, she thought defiantly against her own seven year-old conscience.  
  
Even as she thought it, Sere knew it to be a lie.  
  
The scents of many flowers flooded her nostrils. She had not realized how tired she was but soon the fatigue hit her and she collapsed, exhausted. It had to be nearly morning. The sky was lighter, even if the sun wasn't up yet. Breathing deeply, she inhaled and found herself sitting in front of the roses. Not caring if she pricked a finger or her entire hand, she grabbed a rose and gently broke it off, cradling it in her palms.  
  
Never had she felt so sad. She had not had enough interaction with others, and because she had been so sheltered, she had not known how to deal with that boy's taunts. Her eighth Name Day was approaching and though she was still young, her very status had raised her beyond her years as far as speech and other scholastic things went. But socially she internally conceded that she was inapt. Her Mama had told her she did beautifully at the dinners and many meetings she was forced to attend, but of course, then she was normally silent.  
  
A sigh escaped and she felt her body shiver once more. She was too small to be outside, shivering like this. Surely she would be ill tomorrow. And what would she tell her Mama? What? Some warmth trickled its way down from her eyes and plopped unceremoniously onto her now only damp skirts. The sniffle she had been holding in finally made its way to the surface and she rubbed her face with her small fists harshly. Her Mama was always so calm and composed; she never cried that Sere saw. But Sere was a child and she acknowledged that and let herself cry the rest of her energy away and she fell asleep.  
  
The boy was breathing heavily by the time he reached the sleeping princess. Not only had he run the entire way through the garden and gotten lost three times in his haste, but even before that he had slipped and fallen back into the lake himself and had to swim to the other side. All in all, things had gone down hill the moment the little princess had run out of his sight. The ten year-old's gaze of pity softened to one of sympathy. He knew that look, the one that still showed glistening tear stains and the down turned corners of the mouth that conveyed a feeling of sadness and abnormal aloneness. He knew that look. In the moon's several last glowing beams, he picked up the sleeping princess, with some trouble, as he was only ten, even if a Prince. Eventually though, he situated the Princess so that he could easily hold her small frame.  
  
Soundlessly he slipped through the halls of the palace, and without even trying, he located her room. Even had there been a dozen guards patrolling in the same vicinity, he would not have been seen and neither would the princess. This boy, this Prince cloaked himself in discretion and something extra that might have been called magic, which enabled his easy and safe passage. He slipped her onto the bed, and closed the curtains after tucking her in under all of the covers. He wondered absently, unlike any other child his age would have, if this was how an older brother felt. The whisper that lay over the sleeping princess was disembodied because even as it was said, the source of the words was as distant as the breeze of roses that had brought him there.  
  
"I'm sorry too, Princess."  
  
End chapter two. Please take a second to review even if it's only two words or one of encouragement, like: good job, or keep going! (please?!) Have a nice day,  
  
Kaji Hikage Kaji@oz.zzn.com or Kajihikage@adelphia.net 


	3. Chapter Three

Kaji Hikage signing in, Hi all! I told you I try and roll out the chapters quickly for you. So I am and so I did. Here is chapter three! Enjoy and if you have the time, drop me a line of encouragement and if not, that's okay too. ^_^  
  
The Rose Prince: Chapter Three  
  
Sere sat, thoughtfully twirling the stem of a red rose in her small fingers- --the peculiarity being that the rose held no thorns with which to bite her. That morning she had awoken to find it at the foot of her bed, and though it had been several hours earlier, she felt the whispered apology the boy---no, the Prince--- had left her. In a way she had been pleased but a moment later another emotion took her: sadness.  
  
Now, it is forever a wonder the way the minds of children work, because though many appear outwardly silly and foolish, the truth is that their minds are peaceable things, something that cannot be said of too many adults. Crossing her arms, rose still dangling in her grasp, Sere paced the length of her room, which for someone her size was quite lengthy indeed--- never mind that it was nearly the size of a house.  
  
She sighed, staring unhappily down at the rose, the quirk of her delicate eyebrows curving downward just so, as though she were upset, but pensive. If perhaps, she had not called him a Demon, maybe he would have been her friend. As many children tend to do in their innocence, kindness, naivety, or a little of all three, she re-played the entire escapade in her mind until all the wrongdoing was her own.  
  
Once she had convinced herself---however incorrectly---that she was the one to blame for the entire conflict, she contemplated what she could do to make it up to the Prince. After all, he had given her an apology---though it might be noted that she no longer recalled what exactly he was apologizing for, it was her fault right?---and it was only proper and good to return it. Besides, this wasn't for just any Prince. Sere knew him once she had registered his features the next day and of course, instantly made the connection using her child's logic---of course child's logic is sometimes best. Especially when it's right. Contemplatively working out the kinks in her thoroughly planned apology, Sere recalled the fairy-tale that depicted this boy turned Prince so prominently. After all.  
  
.it was for the Rose Prince.  
  
***************************  
  
Tale of the Rose's Heir as told/ remembered by Princess Serenity  
  
Once upon a time, for this is how all fairy-tales must begin, there was a woman whose beauty surpassed the borders of all kingdoms. With hair as dark as ebony, a slender build, and skin unblemished and smooth, it was easy to say she was beautiful. However, it was her eyes that drew you in until there was no point of escape, eyes the color of a stormy and ever-so blue ocean.  
  
The woman however, as many pretty ones tend to do or not do, did not know she was beautiful. After all, she wore the same village peasant dress that all the girls did, and didn't that make them all the same? It wasn't logical to her that although she might have looked different, that she was anymore beautiful than the other girls---who were indeed pretty, but nowhere near beautiful.  
  
Aware of it or not, her body was finishing its transformation from seventeen year-old girl to eighteen year-old woman and changes were taking place. Where there once might have been a bit too much bone showing for her beauty to be perfect, flesh now sealed it away; where once there was a question of her attributes, she filled out gracefully; and where once her eyes were filled with a sparkling of youthful kindness and curiosity, there was now bright mature love and compassion in them for anyone who sought a shoulder to cry upon, or a shelter to be hidden in. She was always there. Accountable, loveable, compassionate, she was all of those things and the name they called her was as exotic as her beauty: Rose.  
  
Mind you now that this was before the flower ever came about and every other mother, aunt, and grandmother was named Rose. Anyway.  
  
As I said, her beauty was renowned and as such, once she turned eighteen, suitors began standing in line outside her door. Kind as she was, she would good-naturedly tell them that they would be much better off with someone else. Now of course, any sensible man would have known this as the boot and gone to find some more willing lass who would love him with all her soul and heart. Unfortunately men were and are still not known for their sensibility. And so it was that each morning the woman would find the rapidly growing line of suitors, always in the same order, and perhaps for the seventh or seventeenth time tell them the same thing:  
  
"You are all such honest, handsome young men," and here she would pause to look at them all, and this was where the men supposedly hoped that her next line would not be, "and I know you would all be much better off and happier with another girl, one who will love you with all her heart and soul and bless you with her last breath," and that was of course, always the last line and of course, then she would walk away with the pail to go draw water.  
  
What the suitors did not know was that this beauty was already in love, with a man foreign to the land. His hair was that of autumn wheat and his eyes were a hazel not seen in twenty years of his kingdom. Oh? Oh yes, he was in fact royalty, a King actually, looking for a bride. As a handsome man of his stature would, he attracted a fair amount of women, all of them in fact. Which was good for Rose because it kept them distracted so as not to turn on her for inadvertently stealing the attentions of all the boys.  
  
Where was I? Oh yes: Rose was in love with this foreign king and give the man credit, he saw her and all the others melted like overused candle wax in her flame. Of course, the man kept up a good front, appearing to still be available, but when the village girls were still in the village and Rose left to "Draw water" she did in fact do so, but more importantly, she met with her lover.  
  
It continued in safety like this for some time, the two lovers enjoying the half-intrigue and each other. Then one day a problem arose, as in all fairy- tales one must. This one's name was Prince Katai. He rode on his white horse to the front of the well-established line of suitors at Rose's door--- who had in fact befriended one another to the point of each man promising to invite each other man to the bachelor party if he should be so lucky. Though a Prince, this man was cutting in on a lot of people but before the men could protest, Rose came out and while at first startled at the Prince on his tall horse looking down at her a little too appraisingly, she quickly dropped into a curtsy.  
  
The next things that happened were very simple and I shall explain it thus. He, Katai, offered her, Rose, the world. She, Rose, told him, Katai,  
  
"No, but thank you very much your Highness." Perhaps the Prince would have taken her refusal better if she had not said it in the same tone she might have used to comment on the weather. Of course she meant no offense, it was not in her nature. And while the Prince knew that, he was not a kind Prince and went to demanding her hand, and when she twice refused him, he dismounted and began to follow her. He grabbed her wrist harshly and turned her to face him, demanding once more that he marry her.  
  
SMACK!  
  
The men shared one sincere gasp. Rose had never come close to striking anyone and what was worse was the look in her eyes; it was a sight near murderous.  
  
"Touch me again and know that I can and will make your life miserable," she whispered loudly enough so only he could hear. And then she picked up her water pail and fled.  
  
It was on that day that she and the king from a foreign land, whose name was Hisui, wed. Rose's parents had been informed of her romance the day it had started you see, and given their blessings. Now the couple sped off into the horizon where the castle awaited them and hereon it goes as most fairy-tales do:  
  
They went to the castle and lived happily ever after---  
  
---Until their child's third birthday. Their child, who they called Endymion, was toddling around the gardens with his mother and father when it happened. A man who none recognized appeared and stared at the couple, then at the boy and sneered unpleasantly---seldom is a sneer anything but.  
  
"Who are you? What do you want?" cried the mother, Rose, holding her son back from harm. The man laughed a hideous laugh and curled and uncurled his hand to reveal some red powder, no crimson.  
  
"For a long time I wanted you dearling, but now I see the error of my ways and acknowledge you are his," he gestured at the King who stood protectively in front of his family.  
  
"I have waited this long to see you suffer for refusing me so--- impolitely," he decided on and threw the dust upon the family. In shimmers of red dust, the couple disappeared and there in the ground grew two tall flowers, which would later be called roses, one wrapped around the other protectively. But the boy, the boy remained as he was. This troubled the vengeful Prince who shrugged it off and went to draw his sword on the boy who sat behind the two flowers, trembling with unshed tears. It is amazing that such awful people can exist as to prey upon poor defenseless boys but much worse when that person or peoples are stronger, more experienced, and armed. The Prince swung the sword down without a second thought.  
  
And as his steel sword hit the concrete stone of the garden floor he saw red rose petals storming where he had struck. The little boy, the prince of the two lovers, had escaped! Outraged, the evil man made his way to exit the garden but suddenly vines shot up before him, strong and impenetrable. The man reached out to try and climb it but thorns that seemed to be appearing and growing up all sides of the surrounding flora fiercely bit his skin.  
  
This was his cage, his prison, and his fate. Two innocent lovers killed by his hand, a young boy orphaned, and the worst fate that could be given him was confinement in thorns until death for the once royalty and once magi. Still, the orphan boy escaped and as he was the heir of royalty and now that of an enchanted flora, he was known to whisper through the many gardens of places, helping the roses to grow, protecting the memory of his beloved parents, and carrying the title of  
  
The Rose Prince. ********************  
  
And that was the tale Sere rightly associated him with and here she was, still trying to figure out the proper apology. To insult one as a Demon was a very large insult and she felt there was no way she could apologize but in person. But how could she meet with him? He probably wouldn't come again after what she had done. she bit her lip in frustration.  
  
She could ask Ami for help again, but for some reason she reasoned that Ami wouldn't be much help. Where Ami came from, fairy-tales were classified as fantasies that have no concrete meaning. Of course they were wrong, but there was no reason she needed to tell Ami that. After all, she could handle this on her own, right? Right.  
  
I guess, she thought, he's always there anyway. I mean, he is the Prince of the Roses. So maybe if I just go there and apologize tonight, he'll hear me. She had no more time to think about it in any case however, because at that moment there came a knock at her door.  
  
"Sere?" It was Ami. Bounding over to the door, Sere momentarily forgot the red rose still in her hand as she opened the door.  
  
"Ames!" she squealed and hugged her friend. 'Ames' who was slightly embarrassed to have her nickname used before another person who Sere had not yet seen behind her, blushed and returned the hug.  
  
"Sere," Ami paused and moved so that Sere could see the girl behind her. She was their age but looked older because of her flashing eyes that seemed to know more than they should have and the regal bearing she had that Sere knew she lacked in contrast. Not only that, but this girl was beautiful. Ami continued:  
  
"This is our new friend, Rei. She is also a Princess," Ami finished. Sere noted the 'our' and looked at the beautiful princess thoughtfully. She seemed like she could be nice. but then again.  
  
"What a funny hairstyle," the girl commented, lifting one of the streamers of Sere's silvery hair and eyeing it.  
  
"It's the same as my Mama's! It's pretty!" Sere defied, jutting her chin out to depict exactly the right amount of indignation. The Princess Rei matched her movement for movement, injecting instead though, an attitude of mock surprise.  
  
"Oh, it must be you then!" teased Rei, smiling smugly.  
  
"Rei, please," Ami nearly pleaded with the fiery girl as she saw Sere's eyes flash with both the impudence and boldness of her youth and then glare with those same eyes.  
  
"Someday I shall be as pretty and good and elegant as Mama! She said so! And Mama doesn't lie. I know! I know I'm not pretty at all now. but that doesn't mean you can pick on me!" Sere cried this last part and turned to run out the door of her room, disappearing down the long corridor. Ami's distressed gaze followed her and as she turned around she saw a tall brunette about their age as well, speak to Rei, her arms crossed.  
  
"Now look, see what you did Rei? Was that necessary? We all know how bad your tongue is sometimes but must you scathe the princess as soon as you meet her?" this from the brunette.  
  
"I, I did not mean to upset her so, I just wanted to get her a little frazzled. I didn't think she would react so violently. She's very pretty," Rei, admitted this last part quietly, looking down at the folds of her red princess gown as if she were ashamed of the gown as much as she was of herself.  
  
"Well, the best we can do is apologize. I have yet to even meet her and my heart goes out to her," this from the brunette again.  
  
"Sere attracts people that way." Both Rei and the brunette turned to face Ami who stood there, smiling if a little sadly. "It's the power of her heart. I think it's big enough for you Rei if you can find it in yourself to apologize to her," Ami reassured with all the safe-soundness of a mother, making her seem much less the seven year-old cultured princess that she was.  
  
"I know," this from Rei.  
  
"Makoto, Rei, I think I know where she has gone. We can catch her if we hurry." It was no more said than done because suddenly the princesses were no more, leaving only brushes of faint whispering air, faerie-like with lingering hues so faint they were nearly invisible, of ruby, emerald, and sapphire.  
  
Sere was furious. In the course of less than two days, she had been both insulted and called ugly. Kicking at the ground, she was surprised to find herself once again amongst the roses. Glancing down at the rose in her hands, she calmed almost instantly. It was like a wave had crashed softly over her and serenity---her namesake---was once again hers. She could not stay angry for long. After all, she sniffed inwardly, Rei had been right. But one day she would be beautiful, just like Mama.  
  
Taken by a sudden thought, she let her eyes rove the rose area and found a small patch of black dirt in front of part of the stonewall that enclosed the garden. It was a semi-circle really and would have looked lovely if some flowered vines were crawling over it in spades.  
  
Sere dropped to her knees before the dark, rich earth and ran her hands through it, the earth looking sooty against her luminous skin. Then, taking a moment to scoop out a whole, she paused. Well, I know it's nearly done, I mean, the petals are fully blooming and everything, just as I found it this morning, Sere thought as she plucked the rose from the ground where she had lain it and began surrounding its lower stem with dirt in the whole. But, if this truly is a gift from Him---the Rose Prince---they must be enchanted and maybe then, they really will grow. This was her reasoning and as she dusted the dirt off of her small hands and packed it in tightly around the flower, as though she were tucking someone into sleep, she smiled a small smile of hope. Maybe this could be her way of apologizing, to spread the life of his subjects, for they could be no other's, and make them stay beautiful for all to remember.  
  
Yes, that would be her apology and if---  
  
"Princess?" Sere quite nearly jumped three feet out of her skin, but she settled for jumping to her feet and out of the dirt. And then she felt her heart warm. There was the so-called Demon and now to her, Rose Prince Endymion. She curtsied. Then she looked up to see him looking rather uncomfortable, and tugging at his collar.  
  
"Um, you don't have to do that," he insisted and she stood, not unwillingly.  
  
"I'm sorry," they both said. Endymion's blue eyes that were the same as his mother's held brief confusion in them and Sere's bright ones held question.  
  
"Why are you sorry?" this from both of them again. It started with a small and tentative smile of exasperation from the previously annoying and somewhat rude prince, and then a returned one from the previously fuming and irritated princess. Then a chuckle, then a small giggle, then laughing, and then both of them were unabashedly chortling---that is, if children could chortle, and apparently they could.  
  
Once her breath was regained, Sere crossed her arms and stared up at the prince. He was a head taller than her she noticed in distinct disgruntlement. That was positively unforgivable by Sere's standards normally; unless of course it was her Mama, but that was the last thing she was thinking about now.  
  
"I said, why are you sorry? You already apologized," Sere said explanatorily, and gestured behind her to the rose, which if they had looked closely, they might have noticed, had sprouted some new leaves already. At her question, Endymion shifted, once again uncomfortable.  
  
"Well, I didn't tell you why," he started but Sere waved it away, smiling.  
  
"It's okay. I called you a Demon. And I meant to apologize, but by the time I realized it was my fault and who you were, you had gone and it was bright dawn," Sere explained in a hurry, hoping to earn his forgiveness.  
  
"Well thank you," Endymion said as gruffly as a nine-year old boy could manage---yes he was about two years older than the princess but since when has age mattered to destiny?--- and then continued, "but I must tell you that I am still sorry. I lied you see. You are very pretty, and, and, I am sure you must be nice like MY mama told me princesses were," he finished, his voice somewhat lame, even to him at this point. Sere for her part was stunned. Had not Rei just called her funny looking? Was that a lie or was Endymion just being polite? She was beginning to feel the start of slight confusion.  
  
"So. so do you think I'll be as pretty as Mama one day?" Sere asked tentatively, wringing her small, dirty hands in her white skirts. It was only then that she noticed they were her sleeping clothes and had the grace to blush lightly and then push the issue to the back of her mind; her nightgown was a dress in itself really anyway. To her joy, he smiled kindly at her.  
  
"I think you will be prettier than your Mama," he responded sincerely.  
  
Now one might think it odd for seven year-olds to have such high caliber conversations but really, it is that we underestimate them to a point of expecting to little that that is what we get. Truly though, these were exceptional children and wise beyond their years in different ways.  
  
Sere shook her head, her silvery hair flying.  
  
"No, no, no! Mama is the prettiest woman ever, as pretty as your Mama," she added shyly, but her joyous smile showing that she was clearly pleased with his answer even if she didn't believe it all. The important thing was that one-day she could live up to her mother's stature and hopefully be the woman she was, and please her this way.  
  
"So, do you think it will grow?" Endymion gestured to the rose Sere had planted. She moved closer to him and his eyes widened in surprise but he did not back away, even as she took his right hand. She placed her tiny right palm in his large one---which was only large in contrast with hers.  
  
"We will make it grow beautifully," she replied with genuine sweetness and knowing. One of his eyebrows quirked in a disbelieving posture and he smiled back.  
  
"Oh? How?" he asked.  
  
"With our friendship. As long as we are friends, these roses cannot whither, they cannot falter, they can only grow as we do," she finished solemnly, bringing their hands full circle to the right. And Endymion, though he had never known his memory to be great, remembered every word and repeated the vow. And then footsteps were heard and Sere was left alone with another rose, this one yellow---friendship. Picking it up, Sere inhaled and then set to work planting it beside the red one as three princesses came up behind her and stopped suddenly. She was not crying--- for which they were very, very grateful---but then again this was not what they were expecting. Obviously something had happened in the time it had taken them to find her; the gardens were, after all vast, and who besides Sere and her prince would know it was the roses that drew her utmost attention? Certainly not them, not yet anyway. So here they were, panting lightly, as they had ran because they had worried and now they found her with her back to them, and planting roses, fully blooming roses no less, and humming.  
  
The Princess Serenity who not a good fifteen minutes ago had been on the verge of crystalline tears, was humming and as she finished packing the earth in tightly and lovingly around the sun colored rose and turned to them, they also saw that she was smiling.  
  
She was smiling.  
  
End Chapter Three  
  
Well? Review, review, review! I know the constant asking makes me seem impatient and youthful, so forgive me my flaws, but it's just so much fun to get them and know you enjoy my work. You know what I mean, right my fellow artists? I know you do!  
  
Ja ne,  
  
Kaji Hikage  
  
Kajihikage@adelphia.net 


	4. Chapter Four

Greetings minna-san! Please read and review! Thanks to all my supporters out there and hope you enjoy this short chapter.. yeah, short. Sorry about that, got a bloody case of work and family squashed together. Do forgive me. ^_^  
  
The Rose Prince: Chapter Four  
  
Ami for her part, was as befuddled as the rest of the princesses but she held her tongue, expecting Sere to explain in due time.  
  
"Ames!" Sere squealed with unconcealed delight and ran to her and hugged her fiercely. Ami, on the other hand was desperately trying to detach the princess from her; it was slightly difficult to breathe with the force that Sere exerted in her hugs. Luckily for her, Sere released her not a moment too soon.  
  
"Sere, it's good to see that you are alright," Ami said and discreetly made a waving motion at the dignified Rei who surprisingly made her way quickly over to Sere, and then gave a shallow bow.  
  
"I am sorry for teasing you. It was not my intention to make you cry," Rei said with enough sincerity to show the truth in her statement and was rewarded with one of Sere's infamously bright and charming smiles---the kind that said she knew something that you didn't but that was all good and fine because you didn't need to.  
  
"It's okay. I know Mama would never lie to me," Sere replied, as though this explained everything. And it might have, had the others known how much Sere's world revolved around the Queen. What they didn't know though, they gathered for themselves eventually and all smiled. For perhaps the first time, Sere noticed the tall brunette next to Ami. Her eyes were so green that Sere was certain they would match the finest emeralds anywhere and here hair was the same chestnut brown that Sere knew hailed from Woodlands. Was this another princess? As though reading her thoughts, Ami gestured politely to Makoto.  
  
"Sere, this is Princess Makoto. Makoto, this is Princess Serenity or Sere," Ami introduced them and they exchanged curtsies----well, Sere curtsied and Makoto bowed deeply.  
  
"Hi there. This place is so big. I can't believe you live here!" exclaimed Makoto. Sere cocked her head to one side, silvery hair falling over her shoulders as she did, in confusion.  
  
"But, don't you have your own palace?" Sere asked. Makoto grinned and her eyes sparkled.  
  
"Well, sort of. Our palace is the Faerie Woodlands north of here," she replied casually and Sere's eyes grew to an abnormal size and her eyebrows were raised in admiration and disbelief all at once.  
  
"You're a faerie?" she cried excitedly; she had never met one of the magic folk of the north who were apart of so many of her bedtime stories. Before now, she had thought them to be myths, but here was one of their kin and Sere was in an innocent awe that is so genuine and beautiful in a child of light.  
  
"Yup. My father was an elf and my mother was a faerie. My dad's the one who gave me the height and this," she paused and lifted some stray strands of her thick hair and then continued, "but I got my eyes from mum. She died when I was three, so my dad took me to his kingdom and has raised me there for four years. You should visit sometime. I can show you all the best trees to climb!" Once Makoto had finished saying all that, Sere was very much past the stage of awe----now she was in the stage of utter worship. She quite nearly jumped on Makoto in her glee.  
  
"Oh I'd love to! I'll ask Mama! I wanna go see it soon. When are you leaving?" Sere said this all in one hurried breath and by the time Makoto and the others had sorted it out, they all smiled at her.  
  
"Truthfully, I don't know. We just got here, so not for some time I guess." This was admitted and Sere frowned fiercely, tugging on her right streamer of hair thoughtfully.  
  
"Phooey. I thought maybe we could go tomorrow," she pouted and the others laughed good-naturedly at her avid determination. Though the same age, the other girls felt an odd kinship with the girl, almost as though she was younger and they were her older sisters. Such anomalies were people like Sere. It seemed without even trying perhaps, that she had taken them into her hearts and as a result, so had they taken her into their own.  
  
"Perhaps not so soon darling," came a notoriously composed and elegant voice and all the girls turned to see the slender form of Queen Serenity nearing them. Makoto for her part, as well as Rei, was new and both princesses dropped into immediate curtsies---well, sort of. Makoto of course, bowed with her elfin grace and Rei curtsied with her practiced charm. Wonderment was behind the exquisite eyes of the Queen; were all these girls really only seven? It might have made her sad to see them so cultured, and schooled, so young if they had not obviously taken other joys in life.  
  
"Mama!" Sere cried and launched herself at her mother, hugging her, around the legs of course because that was as tall as Sere was at the time.  
  
"Serenity, dear, these princesses are all here for your upcoming Name Day. Princess Mina will also be here for the celebration and I see that you have already befriended the others here. They will be with you in your daily lessons from this day on, all of them, and soon be living in rooms near your own quarters. I expect you to be both cordial and your normal lovely self around them. You are responsible for them and in time will come to lead them as you are The Princess," she paused and Sere might have pointed out that they were ALL princesses but the Queen continued hurriedly as though she guessed her daughter's action, "Is that understood?" The Queen said this with all the importance of knighting someone and Sere, forgetting about her point, swelled with all the pride a seven year-old princess could muster---and it was quite a bit. Rei later commented on how she looked like a blowfish she had once seen; this in result had transitioned into a decidedly brutal thumb war, in which to Rei's dismay, Sere was victorious.  
  
"Yes Mama," was her simple answer and the Queen knew she could hold her daughter to it at any time and she would come through. That was just the way Sere was. Then the Queen motioned for all the girls to follow her; according to some adult-world related notion of time, Mina was about to arrive and they should all be there to greet her as she was the last one. And so they all followed, Makoto with her long strides that were slowed to keep the composed pace that kept her behind the Queen, Rei with a charmed slip to her walk which made her the epitome of grace, Ames or Ami with her quiet dignity, and of course Sere with her expectant and joyous hop-skip which could be nothing other than jaunty---or as jaunty as she could be.  
  
None saw the shadow that followed them; nor did they feel the ocean hued eyes watching them longingly, to join them, knowing all too well he could not. Except for one of them.  
  
Sere felt eyes. There was no other way to explain it. She felt eyes, on her! Using her peripheral vision, Sere saw a shadow as she exited the garden, a shadow with ocean eyes. As if on cue, a rose scented wind whirled around them and she knew; it was him. He was still there. Not wanting to make him feel left out, Sere turned completely and waved to him, for him to follow. At first, the others did not seem to notice. Sere waved continuously until the Prince stepped out tentatively and he winced as he did so, as if he were not accustomed to being in the light so much.  
  
Grinning, Sere held out her hands to him and he walked to her, his eyes locked onto hers, not leaving them, as though he was afraid if he broke the shared gaze that he would be whisked back to where he came from, to There. And he did not want to go back There just yet. He wanted to stay Here with her, with her. So it was without extra glances to see where foot and hand went, he walked until he calmly and easily clasped hands with her and it felt as if two pieces were then put together.  
  
"I wanted to stay," Endy started, unsure. "I wanted you to come," Sere smiled and led him to the group whom were just a slight bit ahead of the two, enough for Rei to notice. The Fire Princess turned to see Sere talking and walking in time with someone, someone who was not there. She also appeared to have something in her hand, perhaps another hand, but again, it was not there.  
  
All Rei could see was air. Sere was holding air and talking to it and walking with it. Shaking her head, Rei was caught, dumbstruck. What was Princess Serenity doing? This caught the attention of Makoto whose reaction was much the same. And then there was Ami who remained outwardly composed and inwardly felt a swirl of confusion as they all thought the same thing Rei had been: what was she doing with the air? Queen Serenity only smiled. It was obvious to her that Serenity was playing a child's game and she watched her joyous daughter as she walked towards them, discussing everything with the Nothing beside her, which is what they did not see.  
  
Sere paled as she saw her new friends and mother looking at her oddly. It was a questioning look. And then she realized: Oh, I did not introduce them yet. That must be it. But it wasn't what they didn't know so much as what they could not see.  
  
They could not see Endymion.  
  
But Sere did not realize that.  
  
"Mama, Makoto, Rei, Ami, this is Endymion, the Prince of the Roses," Sere smiled and let go of the Nothing that was in her hand---supposedly another hand---and gestured at the defined air beside her. Their responses were varied.  
  
"Sere what are you doing?" Ami asked, politely of course.  
  
"Fresh air getting to you Odango?" Rei whispered conspiratorially only to be whapped by Sere playfully who gave the negative.  
  
"Are you feeling well?" Makoto asked, putting a hand to her shorter friend's forehead.  
  
"Is this a friend of yours dear? This from the Queen who received in turn, a number, three to be exact, of curious stares. Was the Queen in on a secret? Did they miss something? Sere on the other hand, was relieved. Although, why her friends were teasing her so, it confused her; she smiled lovingly at her Mama. She always knew everything.  
  
"Yes Mama. He's the Prince of the Roses! His name is Endymion like all the legends say!" Sere cried his title with a joyous happy tone that lit her face and the Queen smiled benevolently at her only daughter. It was a game, surely. And as a good mother, she would play along.  
  
"A pleasure to meet you Prince Endymion," the Queen curtsied and the other girls followed suite, still confused but following their Queen as expected.  
  
"Now then dear, please come along. We'll be late to Mina's arrival if we tarry much longer," the Queen said, and Sere, slightly chastened, once more took hold of the Nothing, which was really Endy's hand, and followed once more, a foot behind all the others.  
  
"Sere." Sere turned to face Endymion whose face was an odd mixture of unreadable expression and fear. Fear?  
  
"What's wrong Endymion?" she asked, concerned, her eyes swirling with affectionate worry and her small head cocking to one side even as they walked.  
  
"They can't see me." His reply was brief and simple and very, very true.  
  
"But Mama saw you," Sere insisted.  
  
"She was pretending. She thought it was a game." Sere shook her head vehemently.  
  
"But then, why?" she asked simply.  
  
"Because she loves you." This answer, also terse, left her speechless for a moment.  
  
"Why can I see you Endy?" she asked, using the shortened version of his name to suit to friendlier terms. There was much she did not know about her friend, but she knew as a boy of legend he must have secrets and maybe, this was part of one.  
  
"I don't know. I am not as young as I look. I think it's every twenty years for one or something. Maybe that's backwards. But this legend has existed for a long time you know? Hundreds of years," he emphasized, unconsciously taking a tighter hold on Sere's hand who squeezed back in response, reassurance.  
  
"I had forgotten. You look not much older than I," she stated, innocently running a hand over his face, as if to make sure he was not a phantom, and she was not making believe so well as to fool herself too.  
  
"I look ten, but I have been alive for I think, two centuries. I know a lot." he paused.  
  
"Don't worry. If there are problems, you tell them to me. We are like the roses I planted today. Newly planted, but with help from each other, we can grow. It does not matter how long you have been alone, so long as now you are not." She said this innocently, unaware of the fact that to many, this was an enlightening statement. It was intellectual beyond her years but perchance it was because she spoke from the heart that intellectualism did not play a role anyway.  
  
Sere noticed they were behind and also saw that the group ahead had stopped. Trumpets blared.  
  
Mina was here.  
  
Sere, squeezing his hand once more, smiled.  
  
"Don't worry. You have all your life to tell me about all you know. I know a lot too, as a princess. I have too. I know a lot more than most people my age." She said this with no boasting sense, but more factual and so sweet that you could not hold it against her. After all, she was right. Cultured beyond her years, articulate, intelligent, she was more like a pre-teen princess than a child. And she was child, not teen.  
  
Perhaps this is what made the relationship between Prince of the Flora and Princess of the Moonlight flourish so easily, like a new rose in a spring rain. Soon though, they would come across thorns; they had already touched on them that day. But that was far from their minds as Sere ran to catch up with the others, having promised to meet her new friend in the garden later that night.  
  
After all she had her duties and could not disappoint her Mama. She loved her too much and Endymion knew that, letting his only friend in two centuries, go back to her world, and knowing he could not follow, knowing she did not know that.  
  
It was better that way. Wasn't it?  
  
At that moment though, Sere was already next to her mother, properly poised and on looking as a girl their age with light blond hair, pale blue eyes and a bright glow about her---which might have been excitement--- gracefully exited a grand carriage.  
  
Mina was here.  
  
End Chapter Four.  
  
Yes, I know, short, but please review and I shall try and make the next one a few pages longer, ok? ^_^ -Many thanks for those who have already reviewed and continue to read my work. -Many thanks to those who will read it. ^_^ And I'm out,  
  
Kaji  
  
E-mail: Kajihikage@adelphia.net 


	5. Chapter Five

The Rose Prince: Chapter Five [apologetically short]  
  
The girl who stepped from the carriage of alabaster white was like a ray of sun with feet. Her hair was long-though not as long as Sere's-and the hue of sweet corn, lighter than Sere's but no less beautiful. Eyes of an unusually pale blue donned a face of immaculate sculpting that promised in the future, once all baby fat had gone, to be regal and lovely; even now it was a rose among thorns.  
  
Of course, all the girls were pretty, but Mina, as they were about to find out, knew it and she used her sweet blue eyes and perfect-princess smile to harmless ends that nonetheless had both of her parents wrapped around her delicate royal index finger. She had no qualms with this, as she called it not "manipulation" but a mere advantage with which she could more easily make others see things from her perspective.  
  
That would come later though.  
  
As of yet, all the girls knew of Mina was that she seemed to have an almost jaunty hop to her skip that made her skirts rustle with her personified excitement. Still, though her anticipation was obvious, she managed to do that hop-skip with grace and made her way with the fluidity of water to greet Queen Serenity, two servants following a respectable distance behind.  
  
"A good afternoon to you your majesty," she said with a warmth befitting of her sunshine and curtsied with that same quirky grace that she walked with. The Queen for her part, smiled and inclined her head.  
  
"Well met, Princess Mina. I trust your trip was well?" The pleasantries were only half-hearted as, Mina and the other girls kept stealing moments to examine one another.  
  
"Yes thank you, your majesty," Mina replied respectfully and then discreetly-or so she thought-glancing behind the Queen at the other princesses. One had a short coiffure so black it seemed blue and a sweet demeanor, while the one next to her was apparently tall and confident with a stance of simple grace that belied her elfin blood. Two others, a raven haired girl with the most unique shade of purple eyes Mina had ever been acquainted with, and the shortest, most innocent looking of them all stood beside her, silver hair done up just like her mother's. So this is Princess Serenity, thought Mina and she smiled briefly at the girl after catching her eye.  
  
Had it not been horribly rude, the Queen might have laughed aloud. These silent greetings were very entertaining to her, as the girls had apparently forgotten she could see them all due to the fact that she had at least a few inches on them. Still, this would not do if they were to ever learn each other's names, or at least for Mina's sake. The Queen coughed politely, and Mina's eyes snapped back to the lovely woman before her, a flush coloring her cheeks as she came into thought of exactly how impolite she was being and was greatly relieved to see the Queen smile. In that smile alone she could read that the Queen took no offense. Interestingly, the Queen had always been able to respond with the best confidence, the best attitude to anyone, without even speaking. Perhaps it was one of the secrets of her legendary eyes, Mina thought, and wondered if maybe her daughter had inherited the blessed talent.  
  
"Princess Mina, please allow me to introduce to you the other princesses you will be staying with: Princess Ami, Princess Makoto, Princess Rei, and my daughter, Princess Serenity." With that, the Queen stepped aside in order to give Mina a full view of the girls, and allow them to make proper introductions themselves. She watched with quiet earnest and was only there enough to be noticed but not bothersome. It was a trick she had learned many years ago as a princess herself. Mentally laughing as she watched Sere nearly bouncing with excitement and happiness, she knew that even if her daughter never mastered silence, what was important was what she said.  
  
"Mina! Mina, Mina, Mina! Isn't that a shining name?" Sere asked the girls as she smiled at, well, Mina. Mina grinned and responded for herself.  
  
"Shining? What do you mean by that?" Sere scrunched up her face, trying to organize her haphazardly strewn thoughts in order to explain properly.  
  
"Hm, well, what I mean it to mean, not saying that it does really mean this but only that the way I want it to mean, it means that 'Mina' is a name that really helps show how bright and sunny you are, you know? Shining!" repeated Sere triumphantly, obviously satisfied with the explanation she had drawn up. At this though, Rei shoved her playfully.  
  
"And what does that make us Odango?" teased Rei. "Our names are drab or dull then eh?" Sere shook her head furiously and placed her hands on her hips.  
  
"No! You're all pretty and have nice names, it's just that Mina's name shines!" She paused in her rebuttal and then after registering a late thought, she continued. "And don't call me Odango!"  
  
Mina chuckled as she stood between Ami and Makoto; the former was placing her head in her hand in only half-mock exasperation and the latter was simply staring in amusement. Makoto, it might also be noted, was actually wondering if this was their twisted form of an apology and an acceptance. Knowing Rei and even only briefly knowing Sere, Makoto knew it was more than possible. In fact, she was probably right. Slipping out of her thoughts, Makoto returned to the argument at hand just in time to see it reach a debatable end.  
  
"Fine!"  
  
"Fine!" The two girls turned stiffly from one another and stood back to back, heads raised and eyes shut indignantly, each feeling equally insulted and in the right. Opening one eye, experimentally almost, Sere saw Mina again and smiled lightly.  
  
"Mina, do you like flowers?" she asked. Mina nodded vigorously.  
  
"Back home, flowers are like our grass and our grasses are like weeds. There are so many, it had to be reversed that way. Why?" cocking her head to one side thoughtfully and curiously at Sere's widening grin, she had little time to further contemplate as the young girl took her hand-firmly and surprisingly so for her age-and began running towards the gardens, Mina in tow. The other girls, sighing in amused and exasperated states, raised their skirts the preliminary few inches it took to avoid tripping in them and rolling into the bushes, and sprinted after the pair.  
  
Endymion saw her coming and that she was now with yet another new girl. Looking at his hands, he sighed a sigh that sounded like the wind and smelled like roses. Everything about him was the roses. And these hands, these hands could not even join with Sere's in a friendship that others could see. For now though he would not think on that, he thought stubbornly and smiled slightly as he heard her laughter. For now he would not think of that. He followed the laughter and his footsteps sounded like silence.  
  
As Sere had run through the gardens with Mina, listening partially to Mina's giggles mixed with awed expressions of her gardens, she had suddenly shivered. It had been an unnatural breeze, scented with roses and the shudder only lasted a second, but it was only a second that was necessary to alert her of His presence. Of course he was there. It was the gardens, his home, but the feeling of simply knowing where he was without meaning to unnerved her. Luckily Mina's ramblings distracted her to amusement. And as they reached the roses, Sere's whole point of destination in the first place, she temporarily forgot the rose wind.  
  
Mina stared in wide-eyed admiration. Roses of every color, every size, and every imaginable thought dwelled here in wild abundance. Red, pink, yellow, white, purple, pale blues, magenta, even black ones rained and speckled the green leaves and vines. And then, on the ground in a semi-circle-like area of earthy ground, were two roses, a yellow and a red. They were planted so close it seemed as though they would entwine roots and even now they seemed to draw closer to each other, though that could have been the work of a sudden cool rose breeze, which Mina noted seemed to happen a lot here.  
  
"Those are special roses," Sere commented quietly, looking at them as though they were as dear to her as anything precious and sweet in life. Mina glanced back at the roses, and suddenly noticed a pull at her heart. It was the pull she had been taught by her mother, Queen Coeur, to recognize as a symbol of a strong bond. One side resonated with Sere's purity and the other.Mina closed her eyes in concentration; the other one she could not grasp onto. But suddenly she knew he was there and looked around wildly for the source of the dual pull.  
  
Sere, having slipped into thought of her Rose Prince, did not notice Mina's behavior immediately. Inhaling the wind that signaled his arrival, she tried to find his exact location by heart. Turning like a blind infant, she spun, her skirts lifting ever so slightly as to rise above the ground where they had previously draped majestically. And then she let her arms drop to her sides and stopped.  
  
Letting her eyes part slightly, glancing lightly through her sooty eyelashes, Sere glimpsed red, green, and. a flash of blue. Allowing her eyes to open the rest of the way, her eyes adjusted to the shadows in the roses as they melded into the single form of Endymion.  
  
Her eyes lit up and she took one step as if to run to him but he raised his hands in a subduing gesture, telling her silently to stay and then disappeared into the surrounding foliage, his eyes becoming the centers of full blooming roses, and his limbs becoming vines with many, many thorns. And he was gone.  
  
Meanwhile, Mina had given up and was staring at the two roses again. Then the sounds of three panting breaths were heard and both Sere and Mina looked up to see three irritated princesses, bent over double catching their breaths.  
  
"You two run like." Rei paused, catching her breath some more.  
  
".scared rabbits," Ami offered as a filler and Makoto only nodded her agreement. Absently rubbing the back of her head, Sere giggled slightly, giving an innocent smile in hopes of escaping any anger.  
  
"Um, sorry. I guess I was just really excited to show Mina the roses," Sere explained, waving to their surroundings. The others sighed; they could not be angry with her, though Rei could fake it very well.  
  
"You Odango! Have some consideration!" Rei fumed, gesturing wildly with her small fists. "The roses aren't going anywhere you know," she added as an afterthought. Sere nodded absently as she looked around, supposedly at the roses, but in fact, for the prince who had once again disappeared from her sight in less than a thought's moment.  
  
It was like he melted into-no, became apart of the roses, Sere thought absently as she also listened to the conversation before her.  
  
"Let her be Rei. She was just excited," Makoto vouched for Sere's behalf, having regained her normal steady breath and lopsided grin that would surely in her future years capture many hearts, most of which she would never know of and many of which she would turn away from. Meanwhile, Ami had been studying her friend with curiosity; Sere was very quiet and intent on something Ami could not pinpoint. It was unsettling to see her bubbly friend so solemn in the glory of the sun's complimenting shine. It made her look almost sad.  
  
"Sere?" Ami began. Sere's eyes looked up at Ami in recognition and smiled brightly, seeing that she was unnerving her friend so dear to her. She would die before cause them any trouble over herself.  
  
"What is it Ami?" she asked with a perfect cheerfulness that dared anyone to question its validity; and while Ami was smart enough not to do so, she placed the sadness she had seen earlier in the back of her mind to look into later.  
  
"Nothing Sere, just checking on you. You looked like you were gone there for a moment.  
  
End Chapter Five  
  
ACK. I know, 'tis short and not as well organized nor as cohesive as it should be, but understand it took me a long time to do all of this. If you re-read this or even the whole story, hopefully you'll see there's a lot there, because I love this story and will not abandon it, even though I enter loops of dormancy due to my work, et cetera. Please keep reading, hopefully my next update will be sooner and better written. Again, profound apologies to you, my esteemed and appreciated readers and reviewers,  
  
Kaji~ 


	6. Chapter Six

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This is a sad excuse for a chapter after leaving you all in the lurch for months, but it's got a point, you'll see. It's meant to be the transitioning chapter because after this, we are transitioning from age seven to age seventeen alright, but that's not important yet. All I'm saying is there are reasons for the brevity of this chapter and the suddenness of it all. It is meant to be abrupt because, well, it is. I promise a much better chapter next because in chapter seven [next chapter] is where everything is going to begin to come full circle, conflicts arise from the past, et cetera, et cetera. You get it, ne? ^_~  
  
Thanks for your patience, please review kindly if you can,  
  
-An Apologetic Kaji Hikage  
  
  
  
  
  
The Rose Prince: Chapter Six  
  
Later that night in her own chambers, Sere found herself looking out at the stars above, sitting cross legged on her balcony. Ami said I looked gone. she pondered this. Gone? Perhaps she had been for a brief moment. Had she only imagined Endymion sinking, no, melding into the roses and thorns like so much extra coloring in a painting? So confusing it was for her young mind, for any one's mind if one were to put it to the questioning, but particularly for her who had been preoccupied with other thoughts.  
  
Absently she trailed her hand through her silken hair which had been gracefully let down from its accustomed hairstyle. Now it pooled around her like the sweet and soft skirts of her nightgown, white and cool.  
  
"It's beautiful. My mom and I used to watch this same sky. I'm sure," came a voice and Sere was not surprised, as others might have been to find Endy sitting haphazardly on the balcony ledge, his legs hanging over the side loosely.  
  
"Endy, are you real?" she asked so quiet as the wind might have swept it away did it not breeze in his direction.  
  
"Of course." He said this so matter-of-fact, with such no nonsense manner that she had no trouble believing what she had already guessed in her heart. Certainly he was real, as real as she, or Rei, or her Mama, as real as any of them.  
  
"Okay." It was only one word and yet it held so much in it. The simple acceptance of one child to another, the re-establishment of a newfound friendship it was so much more than that one word.  
  
"Sere." here he paused and Sere had cause to glance up at him. It was night of course and so the moonlight had a rather startlingly immortalizing effect on his profile. Still boyish but with that hint of maturity from so much pain that defined his features perhaps that much more to show the regal bearing he would always keep. His eyes were particularly offset by the moon-paling effect his skin exhibited, two blue orbs like the sky before a high storm and his hair was the stuff of absolute darkness.  
  
At that moment Sere truly felt as though she were in the presence of a prince and only hoped that she could help mend his sadness. No one should be sad so young. This simple thing she knew, this thing that so many adults neglected to acknowledge. No one should be sad so young. He spoiled the whole princely look however when he ran his hand through his hair, and suddenly became all Endy once again, not so much the fairytale prince she still knew he was.  
  
"Sere, you know, even though I am real, you are the only one who has been able to see me thus," he said so quiet she thought she might have imagined the words, just as her friends thought her to be imagining Endy. His sigh confirmed their existence however and she turned fully to face him, her eyes imploring him to explain further. She did not comprehend entirely the seriousness of the situation; this Endymion understood and smiled, if a little wistfully, that he should feel as young as he looked.  
  
"Why?" she asked.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe it's because you have such an affinity for the roses, My roses. but then again, your new friend Mina seemed to sense my presence, even if she could not see me, and she had never before today seen My roses," pausing, he frowned in the concentration one would expect to show when a boy had misplaced something and was, having forgotten where it was misplaced, vainly trying to remember.  
  
"She 'sensed' you?" Sere questioned, curious. Endy nodded a terse nod, as though he himself could not quite sufficiently explain it all, but knew it all the same to hold its worth in truth.  
  
"She knew I was there. She might not have known exactly who or what I was, but she knew," he affirmed, running his hands absently through his dark hair.  
  
Sere thought he looked older than he should have but as the moment passed, she pushed that thought away and contented herself with feeling his presence. Did she 'sense' him?  
  
She supposed she did.  
  
"Endy..." she paused.  
  
"What is it Sere?" he asked and she found herself lost for words, not knowing what she wanted to ask, but knowing she lacked for something unnamable.  
  
"Nothing," she replied and let her soft gaze trail on a path that was not quite haphazard but not smooth either, all the way up to the glistening moon. She was lost in the stars when suddenly a cold swept the air.  
  
It was chilling and it made Sere shiver inside and out, the trembling not quite reaching her conscious mind, but fully filling out her heart.  
  
"Sere!" Endy was beside her in a second, standing behind her, his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders.  
  
"Endy, what's going on?" she shivered. A new presence entered and it was then that Sere saw her. She was young, not much older than them, or so it seemed with long blackish-green hair and the most deeply garnet eyes Sere had ever imagined, just like the crimson sunset...  
  
"Setsuna!" Endy growled and Sere was unnerved. She had never seen her friend act this way before; he sounded upset and she didn't think she liked it. The only comfort she had was the warmth he emanated that assured her he was the same Rose Prince she had grown to adore shortly after meeting.  
  
"Greetings Prince, M'lady," she added, nodding to Sere who attempted to curtsy but Endy stopped her.  
  
"What are you here for?" he asked coolly.  
  
"Why so cold Prince of the flora? Can't bear to see family I suppose," she floated absently in front of them, legs crossed, arms crossed and an amused visage staring out at the two.  
  
"Family?" Sere questioned.  
  
"Not real family my dear, but we are both magical and as such, share some similar mystical lineage, if inadvertently so," she explained amiably and Sere wondered why it was exactly Endy so truly seemed to despise this person named Setsuna. She seemed rather nice to Sere.  
  
"Setsuna, what are you doing here? This is my palace, my garden," Endy said with such ferocity that Sere unconsciously cringed a bit under his hands. He noticed though and softened a bit, for her sake; he remembered while he only looked young, she really was only seven. "Why have you come?"  
  
"To help you on your quest of course," Setsuna replied as if it were something all the world knew, and she was flabbergasted that he of all the people did not know.  
  
"Quest?" his voice became edgy by the slightest hint of a break.  
  
"Yes Prince, a quest to break the curse, you remember? Or has it really been that long..." Setsuna was cut off by Endy whose eyes widened in realization of her words.  
  
"To break it? To restore all that was lost? What I've been waiting for all these years..." he was saying these things in fragments and Sere was sorely pressed to keep up with the conversation anyway. But she managed somehow.  
  
"And you will not be alone. I shall be coming with you," she smirked here and Endy who at any other time would have groaned in unhappiness, seemed to barely notice.  
  
"Endy, are you leaving?" Sere asked, tugging on his elbow.  
  
"Eh...oh..." he looked down, and something unreadable passed through his deep blue eyes as he encompassed Sere's small hands in his. "Yes, I'm leaving, but I know I'll come back. I always return home." He smiled.  
  
"But why must you leave?" she asked, saddened that her new friend, so quickly brought dear to her heart, should be taken from her so soon. But that was selfish wasn't it, she thought, reprimanding herself silently.  
  
"To regain what I lost," was all he would answer and Sere knew enough even at the tender age of seven, nearly eight years, not to question.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
And the next day, when Sere found herself in bed, surrounded by multiple rose petals, the scent nearly overwhelming her senses in bliss, she knew he had gone.  
  
This was his farewell...  
  
No, she amended that thought:  
  
It was his, "I'll see you again." She knew that she must never forget him, though years might pass, and the fairy tale become even more distorted in the ears of others. Her heart must not forget, she knew, her soul knew.  
  
She never did. 


	7. Chapter Seven

DISCLAIMER: NO OWN SAILOR MOON, just own the story ya know. ^_~  
  
  
  
The Rose Prince: Chapter Seven  
  
  
  
"Serenity!"  
  
A young woman glanced up smoothly, a soft pallor to her flesh, which on most others would have appeared ghastly, only made her seem mystically lovely. Her eyes were those of her mothers, though a shade brighter and deeper, more like two depthless oceans of an enigmatic soul. Silver-white hair framed her face, which in the past years had exercised most of the baby fat from them, leaving them finely sculpted and picturesque, regal and as was to be expected, beautiful. And her lips were like two soft, delicate young rose petals, slightly pink with youth and unpainted, unlike most others her age and gender who painted their lips dark dramatic colors. Not her though, her look was of a natural essence unseen since her mother was her age, and she surpassed her mother...a fact a few were beginning to admit openly now.  
  
"Minako-chan!" she cried gleefully and became the vision of a child instead as she dropped whatever she had been doing---later to be found in the bushes beside the bench she had previously occupied---and ran excitedly to greet her friend of nearly nine years. It did not take her long to notice that there were three others behind the golden haired beauty, each equally as ravishing in her own unique way.  
  
"Sere!" they all chorused and there was an immense group hug.  
  
"Makoto, Rei, Ami, you're all here!" Sere was quite veritably spinning in bliss, her flowing white skirts billowing out around her maturing form as she did so, all those accounted for, laughing and smiling at their Princess and friend.  
  
"Of course we are, Odango, we wouldn't miss your sixteenth birthday!" Rei commented smartly, earning her a sulky glare from Sere.  
  
"After all, you came to all of ours! I should think we'd have the decency to return the favor," Ami said kindly, smoothing over the impending squabble between the fire princess and Sere.  
  
"Aw, it wasn't bad. I enjoyed seeing you all dressed so nice and having so much fun. And you had a lot of food!" Sere assured them, waving her hands blithely.  
  
"But, you ended up having to fend off a great number of princes and nobles at all of our galas who ended up being single," Makoto frowned.  
  
"And some who weren't!" Minako added in slyly before getting a soft jab in the ribs from Rei.  
  
"Ehehe, nah, I just danced with them. They all seemed to be kind enough," Sere insisted, still caught in the moment of being surprised by her four best friends. She really hadn't been certain they would come. After all, as Sere reasoned with herself, they were refined, busy and had many more things to do than come to her birthday. And besides, in Sere's opinion, a sixteenth birthday was nothing.  
  
She only went to the other ones because she always had, for every birthday for them. For her, secretly, the year she was seven, that was her most memorable year...the year she met Him. That was perhaps why she was always there, walking, strolling, running, gallivanting, anything, through the bountiful roses in her gardens, and she knew there was a secret in them, a mystery, one she thought she had solved nearly nine years ago...almost, but then He had left...but He had promised to return...this was His home He had said...  
  
"Sere!" Sere looked up; she had blanked out for a moment apparently.  
  
"Don't worry! I'm fine, just reminiscing, you know!" Sere said happily and began to skip off, leading her friends all back to the palace. It was after all, only two hours before the sixteenth name day gala for her, the grand Princess Serenity, and her Mama would not be pleased if she wasn't at least semi-on time. Sere smiled to herself; of course, her Mama always was soft towards her. She could probably nearly get off without much trouble if she didn't go at all. The thought was sinfully tempting, to spend her sixteenth name day evening in her magical rose gardens, now that would be perfect. She sighed. But that would not be so good, for her Mama, while not reprimanding her fiercely, might be upset by this and that was the last thing Sere wanted. Like all the people she loved, Sere wished to spare her Mama any discomfort in life, any sorrow, even something like this.  
  
Of course, that was just the way Sere was.  
  
And all the people knew it.  
  
  
  
  
  
"This one?" Minako asked for the fiftieth time it seemed; she wore a beautiful golden gown that set off her eye color in startling clarity. It was silky, off the shoulder and reached mid-thigh, but over that, starting at her waist, was a translucent, matching gold split skirt with delicate embroidery that fanned out to the sides slightly, accenting her lengthy legs and proportionate feet, adorned in matching gold shoes. Around her neck was a small necklace of diamonds.  
  
"Yes! That one is the best, I swear it Minako-chan!" Sere beamed. This was the first one she had really liked on Minako, which surprised her because everything looked good on Minako, but this one seemed to pop out at you, presenting Minako in the most appealing and simultaneously elegant manner. It was perfect for her.  
  
"Hehe, I think so too," was the reply before Minako easily slipped out of it, now only wearing her under gown.  
  
"What are you wearing Sere? We've only got an hour left you know, and we al already picked our gowns out," Ami pointed out, ever logical and on-task.  
  
"Actually, designed this dress myself and Mama said she'd have it made for me since it was my sixteenth gala name day," Sere paused and brought out a sketch, "See?" There was a silence followed by many appreciative "Oohs" and "Ahs".  
  
"How did you ever come up with such a beautiful design conception?" Makoto breathed softly, tracing the outline with her fingertips.  
  
"Actually, in a dream," Sere answered tentatively, waiting for the reactions, which she wasn't positive what they would be.  
  
"A dream? What kind of dream?" Rei asked, intrigued, as she knew much about the art and magic of premonition.  
  
"Well, I'm in this passage way, and it's very lovely, majestic even, like another palace that I have never seen before. There's running water somewhere and I follow its sound only to end up in a rose garden, like ours but somehow wilder, and different. To one side is a small spring with the trickling water I heard, clear and sparkling, and the moon's reflection is on it. Then I look into it and see myself in the water's calm, regardless of the ripples created by the small trickle, I can see myself clearly. And that's how I knew what the outfit looked like...as you can see," she pointed at the sketch, "It's not really a full gown, but see where the skirt splits here...and yeah, okay, anyway I turn and there's someone there, silhouetted, but I can't see him completely, he reaches out to me and then," she paused.  
  
"And then?" they all asked, wide-eyed.  
  
"I wake up," Sere smiled.  
  
They all fell off the bed where they had perched.  
  
"So you'll be wearing it tonight, ne?" Rei prompted.  
  
"Yup, and I think it'll be great," Sere said, "Because I've decided that after the initial dance, whoever it ends up being with, Mama won't mind if we slip out for a while into the rose gardens...besides I have to do something there," she said, almost to herself.  
  
They all nodded. Each knew of Sere's undoubted affinity for the beautiful and exotic flowers with thorns. It was odd because she had none in her room, none. But she always said that they belonged in the gardens and that they were not hers to take. This baffled them, for if they were not hers, well, whose were they? It was her palace, well, hers and her mothers. Still, she had equal right.  
  
Unknown to them, in a beautiful dark ebony box, engraved on the silver latch with a crescent moon and a star, she kept in it every petal from those nine years ago, every petal He had left for her, remembering her friendship, rekindling her faith in her friend whenever her heart wavered because of the long wait, and they always revived her love for Him, for her best friend. It was big enough to hold them all, small enough to easily be concealed under the crook of her arm or a cloak. Those were His roses, and she would keep them that way.  
  
She sighed. Almost nine years and he had not returned.  
  
Where are you, Rose Prince, she asked in her heart, glancing out to the rising stars, the same stars they had watched together and the same stars she had seen that night in the rose gardens...  
  
  
  
In the shadows there was a figure moving, and His eyes locked onto Sere, impenetrable and unreadable all at once before He was gone with the whisper of a rose scented wind.  
  
Sere thought she smelled a familiar scent of roses. And then she shook it off. Just because I want Him to be here, I'm imagining things, she thought half-sadly, once more the little girl she was in her heart, longing for her too long-gone friend, and wishing.  
  
  
  
  
  
"Princess Serenity and her court: Princess Ami, Princess Rei, Princess Makoto, and Princess Minako!" the doorman announced loudly and the five beauties swept in on the wave of regal loveliness they always rode.  
  
All the girls wore their signature royalty's colors; Ami wore sapphire blue, Rei wore ruby red, Makoto wore emerald green, and Minako of course, wore golden yellow. Each wore a gown accentuating her best attributes; Ami's loosely clung to her slender and small frame, a pale icy blue against her fair skin, floor length and sleek. Rei's was closer fitting like a corset in the torso area, the bodice and straps being of shimmering red satin, and the skirt being made of the same fabric, fanning out a bit, but not puffy, elegant and dramatic, just like her. Makoto donned a dress similar to Ami's but again, closer fit to her curves, with straps that were instead, off the shoulder and wide, the bottom of the gown's skirt lined with a lighter green embroidery of delicate leaves and vines. Minako wore the gown from before. Sere though, was the undisputed belle of the ball.  
  
Her hair was up in custom royal style, the streams of silvery hair smooth and silky as her outfit. It was seemingly sleeveless, made of a toned down silky pearl, making her ivory skin glow. Attached to the straps though were flowing translucent sleeves of gossamer like material that flowed well past her wrists in waterfall fashion, graceful and unique. Down the center of the torso there were strings holding it together of a blue matching her eyes, all the way down to her waist where the tunic-like thing split open and reached down to the floor, split up to her thighs in the back for a reversed split skirt effect. Underneath, her legs were encased in sleek black...pants, which raised a few eyebrows; a Princess wearing pants to her sixteenth gala? Oh well, she was the Princess after all. Her feet wore elegant black flat-soled shoes. The neckline was v-like, but modest and she wore a white ribbon around her neck, a small blue pendant held from it, corresponding with her eye color and the color of the ties on the front of her ensemble.  
  
All the others immediately found dance partners but Sere attempted to meld into the shadows. A tap on her shoulder informed her she had been unsuccessful though and as she turned, she readied the excuse on her soft lips when they died as she saw the deepest blue eyes, familiar, like the ocean, and like...  
  
"Endy," her voice whispered. A knowing smile graced his handsome face, refined features regal and beautiful all at once, transformed from boy to man, with an even more unfathomable depth in his eyes, if possible, than before.  
  
Give it a few hours [it had been night time when first they met, remember?] and it would be nine years exactly since they had met, and since he had left nearly.  
  
Nearly nine years.  
  
And he was back.  
  
"May I have this dance, Princess?" he asked, his voice smooth and as beautiful as he was physically.  
  
"Any time, my Rose Prince," she smiled, saying this under her breath, but he heard her, and his smile brightened.  
  
She remembers me, she really remembers me, he thought as he swept her off onto the dance floor, absently thanking Setsuna mentally for teaching him how to dance formally at some point in their...journey.  
  
He pushed those thoughts away, looking down at the beauty before him; he had been right all those years ago; she was more beautiful than her mother, and, he smiled with that same boyish pride of years ago, she was his best friend.  
  
As they twirled, Minako eyed them thoughtfully. Somehow that man's presence was familiar to her. Hadn't she sensed him before, in the rose gardens? She shook the feeling off. She was being silly, right? She tried to reason with herself.  
  
"I've missed you," Sere said.  
  
"And I've missed you too Sere," he responded sincerely.  
  
"Can we..." she paused.  
  
"Anything you want Sere, anything for my best friend," he added proudly.  
  
"Let's escape to your gardens!" she smiled childishly as she pulled him out the back French doors into the garden area, unnoticed, thanks to some unnamed miracle.  
  
  
  
  
  
Stars spanned the sky this night again, once more like multiple pearls in the black sea, and Sere and Endy ran gleefully as the children they still were in some ways, into the rose gardens, His rose gardens.  
  
"Remember, this is where I was sitting, when I first heard you!" Sere said, excited, spreading her arms as she spun in place, gleeful with the return of Endymion and the warmth he brought with him. He laughed.  
  
"Of course I do," he smiled, spinning her to him playfully, and she spun so fast, she ran into him, face only reaching his chest level, as he had grown much taller. Her breath caught a bit as she glanced timidly up at him. They were very close...  
  
He inched his head down a bit...  
  
  
  
And she rose on her toes slightly...  
  
  
  
And then there was a loud hiss.  
  
  
  
"Luna!" Sere cried, surprised and bent down abruptly to scoop up the beautiful black cat who had, apparently, in light of Endy's return, been feeling slightly neglected. "I'm sorry Luna, forgive me right?" Sere scratched behind Luna's ears affectionately. Endy was about to comment wryly when a cold wind swept through.  
  
"H-hey, what is this?" Sere asked frantically. Her whole body was glowing with a pulsating white light. Endy's eyes grew wide as a starlight wind began to pick up around Sere who looked more startled than frightened, but still frantic.  
  
"Sere!" he grabbed onto her wrist as the wind encircled her completely and then pulled Endy in as well, Luna painfully clinging onto him with her claws...  
  
And then they were all gone, white rose petals blowing everywhere, as some of them floated into the ball room where five people had noticed Sere's missing; the Queen, and her four companion princesses all looked severely worried as the petals flew lightly into the room, swirling mystically all around, somehow knowing, this was all that was left at the moment, of their Princess.  
  
She was gone.  
  
They had no idea where.  
  
And neither did she.  
  
-------------------------------------  
  
REVIEW to get the next chapter, ne people? ^_^ Thanks, I appreciate the support; it's what keeps my writing morale up and keeps YOU all getting more of the story which otherwise might be/ have been scrapped without the REVIEWS.  
  
Love you guys,  
  
[Arigato gozaimasu for being so patient with me/ thank you!]  
  
Kaji Hikage 


	8. Chapter Eight

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sailor Moon.  
  
The Rose Prince: Chapter Eight  
  
  
  
It was warm.  
  
Sere gingerly opened her eyes, letting the moonbeams fall softly into her unsteady vision.  
  
It was night.  
  
Propping herself up lightly on her elbows, she glanced around for any signs of Endy. She found none. Sere sat up fully, taking in her surroundings; it was dark as night would have it but the moon and stars above provided sufficient light to see.  
  
"Selene where am I?" she whispered, half frightened and half curious, wondering if her goddess could hear her prayers even in this new place...at least she was unhurt.  
  
Endy...  
  
Thoughtlessly she sprang to her feet, ignoring the protesting and creaking in her sore limbs, and began to run without direction in worried haste.  
  
"Endy!" she called, cupping her mouth with both of her hands as she ran through what seemed to be a forest, open above but thickly provided for in greenery.  
  
"Endy!" she cried frantically; was he harmed? Would she make it to him in time if he was? What in Selene's name could she do even if she did find him? Her best friend just returned to her after nine years; she couldn't lose him again.  
  
There was no replacement.  
  
Only Endy...  
  
"Endy!" her voice rang in sorrowful sweetness through the strange land she was in... unfortunately Sere did not heed any of her past lessons, discarding the fact that even if Endymion did not hear her...someone else might.  
  
And someone else did.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Sere's hair had come down some time ago, now in disheveled waves of pearl white and as she glanced from side to side in her harried state, she did not notice the shadow creeping up on her in practiced stealth.  
  
It took one second for her to feel its presence.  
  
It took shorter a time for the shadow to bring its hand over Sere's mouth, silencing the impending yelp of fright.  
  
"Shh, I'll not harm you Serenity."  
  
Sere did not know exactly how, but she was certain all the same that she knew this voice...And then as if the shadow could read her thoughts, which was not a settling thought in any case:  
  
"Do you remember my voice Serenity?" the shadow asked, almost wistfully. Sere did her best to nod.  
  
"So you'll not scream if I take my hand away?" the shadow also asked this. And Sere shook her head.  
  
"Alright, I'm trusting you Serenity, there's more danger here than you know. It'll be best for both of us if you keep to that promise, ne?" and the hand left Sere's mouth and Sere spun around, not wildly but still well miffed.  
  
Her imperially renowned eyes met those of a familiar deep garnet framed by deeply tanned skin and blackish green hair...  
  
"Setsuna?" she whispered, briefly pondering how she had remembered that name all these years.  
  
"Yes," she bowed and Sere gestured for her not to.  
  
"That's unnecessary I think," Sere smiled.  
  
"Perhaps, but I thought we might as well keep things cordial until his royal highness shows up," Setsuna scowled flippantly.  
  
"Do you mean Endy?" Sere asked, her eyes lighting with her innocent hope so many found attractive and valuable.  
  
"Certainly, sir Prince of the Roses himself, Endymion of this world...and yours," Setsuna offered as a half-answer before frowning.  
  
"I was positive I pulled you two in together...and in any case he shouldn't have strayed THAT far...foolish man, even when we were children," she muttered to herself and Sere was befuddled. What was Setsuna talking about? SHE was the one who had done this? Sere was confused and felt she deserved some answers, even if she was only a tagalong of sorts.  
  
"Um, pardon me but, why did you bring us here? He," she paused sadly, "he only just came home." Here Setsuna gave her a look of pity that Sere was not altogether certain she liked and shook her head of lengthy green hair as she stared at the misbegotten princess.  
  
"His...fate is not done with him," Setsuna said slowly, carefully choosing her words.  
  
"Why?" Sere asked unhappily, her mouth turning down slightly.  
  
"It's never done, it seems," was the vague answer and Sere left it at that. Instead she ventured into other territory.  
  
"Why does Endy speak unkindly to you?" Sere asked.  
  
"Because he has a past with me he would rather not," Setsuna said and added, scowling, "Not like I asked for it either of course." Sere edged closer to Setsuna, like the child she was at heart.  
  
"Would you tell me the story behind it? I know there must be one," Sere implored and Setsuna, even though she was Setsuna, was mortal to a certain extent and could deny Sere nothing.  
  
"Certainly Serenity, but get comfortable," she advised and did so herself, situating herself on the lushly grassy ground in a loose sitting position.  
  
"I'm ready," Sere smiled brightly.  
  
"Alright," Setsuna could not repress the reciprocating smile.  
  
"Does this story have a name?" Sere inquired.  
  
"No, it is better left to the Fates, that name," Setsuna admitted and then told her story, hers and Endy's, from long, long ago:  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Endy was a broken prince when his parents were, in most senses, killed; either way, they were taken from him. A child, he did not know what to do, instead only wept for those two who had been his strongholds, his keepers, his loved ones, the two irreplacables, mother and father. Blindly, he took care of the roses, until the gardens grew as vast as they are now in your world, and as many. And he stumbled upon his magic, his inheritance, to be prince of the roses. He found he could become apart of them, encourage them, enchant, and to a certain extent, understand. Eventually though, as he realized that a very slow aging process was apart of his gift, or curse as one might call it, his mind began to warp. On his fifty-fourth year, still only the body of a boy a little younger than you, he began to feel emotions that were impure and damaging, not only to himself, but to his connection with the roses.  
  
They began to die.  
  
It took him nearly too late to discover this, but as he did, he put aside his personal feelings of bitterness for the man who had wronged him in so many ways. He put it aside for his love of the roses, and as a symbol of his loyalty to the remains of his beloved parents who he could never see again.  
  
Then he met me.  
  
I was, a black rose, and he found it strange as anyone might. All the roses in his garden, before your time anyway, were either the purest white or the most evoking crimson. Black was an ominous sign and though in his heart he was uncertain, he felt the best thing to do was something he had never done before:  
  
Cut it.  
  
So he did. And when he did, as the stem broke from the vines, he tells me that a black and red light resonated around it, causing him to release the flora. And that in a moment, when the light was a dull glow, he saw me, balled up in a fetus like position, sleeping.  
  
When I opened my eyes, the first things I saw were his blue, troubled ones. Even in his worry, I saw a regal and important bearing in him though, and as I floated slowly to the ground in front of him, I had the sense to kneel.  
  
After all, he was royalty.  
  
Then he groaned and muttered something about awful fortune and I began to know the prince and boy as Endymion, or as you so aptly nicknamed him, Endy.  
  
Stubborn to a fault and sometimes arrogantly certain of his actions, I never failed to point out when he was wrong. Because he was, in a sense my master, I called him that until one day he said to me:  
  
"Look, I am forever apologetic that I released you in such a manner into a world you do not know, but one thing above all you must understand: I am not your master. You are free to do whatever you like."  
  
After he said that, I simply called him Endymion, or Prince. Of course I could not leave him, he was becoming at that point, more and more the only family I could ever hope to have and since my aging process was as slow as his, I would only have him it seemed.  
  
But he still resents me I think, because I am a reminder, an eternal reminder, of what he cannot escape, because as much as he loves his roses, there are times I know, when he wishes nothing more than to be an ordinary mortal.  
  
However, I helped him on the quest that took him away from you those nine years past, and he respects me now at least, I think. We are on mutually cordial terms, even grudgingly friendly.  
  
So, even if he doesn't show it, I know he trusts me."  
  
Setsuna smiled and added:  
  
"And I trust him."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Sere stared, wide-eyed at the woman beside her, obviously more near Endy's age, and suddenly with a beautiful mystique that Sere had previously mistaken for an imposing nature. To her, Setsuna was another legend come true, another impossible made possible, and companion.  
  
"I see," Sere smiled and continued, "I'm sure deep down, you both love each other very much. Time does that for people, my friend Minako told me." Here her smile faded a bit as she was distracted by a sudden pang in her heart, already missing those she knew she was parted from for an indeterminable amount of time. This was lucky for Setsuna who had taken the mention of 'love' to blush so furiously, that it showed even on her deeply tanned skin, and she looked down, trying to cover her face with her lengthy green hair.  
  
"Well, I'm not so certain of that Serenity, but your friend is the Princess of the kingdom of love and adoration, so I shan't argue with you," Setsuna replied suddenly, flashing her a quirky smile. Sere's smile returned when Setsuna grinned at her and was about to reply when...  
  
"SERE!" A rather frazzled Prince Endymion came tumbling...no, hurling out of the other side of the forest edge before the clearing she and Setsuna now sat in. His hair was thoroughly tousled, his breath fast, and eyes bright...and Sere thought he was the most beautiful person she had ever laid eyes upon, but this she kept to herself, hiding it even from her own senses, deep in her heart. Instead she waved to him, then changing her mind, stood and embraced him.  
  
"I wondered when you might arrive," she smiled up at him in her always angelic fashion.  
  
"You knew I was here?" he asked, surprised.  
  
"No, but I knew you would come to find me," she replied simply.  
  
"I always will," he nodded, returning her kind smile with one of his own, not fully recognizing the stirring in his own heart, ignoring it instead.  
  
"Promise?" she grinned like a child dealing with a stuffy adult.  
  
"I promise," he responded, slowly releasing Sere from the pleasant embrace, acknowledging that in the world they now stood in, a promise was something more than sacred.  
  
Then turned to face Setsuna.  
  
"What is the meaning of this Princess?" he scowled darkly, blue eyes turning darker by the second.  
  
"Princess?" Sere exclaimed loudly, very un-princess like and then blushed duly. Setsuna looked slightly miffed, shrugged and nodded to Sere, speaking to her as she might about the daily agenda, or the weather, or anything else that was normal:  
  
"Oh yes, did I forget? It turns out, I'm the Princess of the Roses."  
  
"Oh," Sere replied softly. This was something unexpected...of course Endy and Setsuna were not related, but, then...well, she was born of the roses, so maybe that was the trick...Sere's head was spinning inside so she paid only half attentively to the next conversation.  
  
"Prince, you should know by now," Setsuna returned with equal frowning and arrogance to match.  
  
Well, if they weren't related by blood, you could definitely see the similarities rubbed off over the years...their scowls were relatively identical.  
  
"Forgive my incompetence and indulge me. What, I repeat, is the meaning of this?" he reiterated.  
  
"Prince Endymion of the Roses, He who stowed away his dark feelings for the man who ended and began your life, you are getting a chance to amend things," she smiled that mysterious smile of hers that Sere was beginning to wonder whether it was something to foretell light or dark.  
  
"Amend what?" Endy asked hotly.  
  
"The retribution you once sought, well, you can have it now," Setsuna clarified.  
  
"How?" he questioned, his throat going a bit dry.  
  
"All we have to do is reverse the curse. As you know, this world is not the same as Serenity's. They are connected by a bridge, much like Heaven and Hell have a bridge. The only difference is, they are meant to be one. If we find the curse, we can reverse it more than likely and the worlds will be one once more and if all goes well, you may have two parents, just as you left them," Setsuna finished in a hurry. Sere wondered if she had rehearsed that speech.  
  
"How did you do this?" Endy finally managed to choke out, bitten between bitter pleasure at this new information and disbelieving debt he knew he would owe to Setsuna.  
  
"I have my ways. Being Rose Princess isn't all it's cracked up to be you know, but it does have its...advantages," and she would say no more.  
  
"Why did you pull Serenity into this?" Endy asked suddenly, his face darkening once more.  
  
"It's okay Endy, I don't mind," Sere began but he waved his hand sharply. She quieted.  
  
"Well, she is the Hikari no Tenshi and needed for the reverse of the curse and, well, you know," Setsuna replied, as though this explained everything. Sere sent a sharply inquisitive glance Setsuna's way. And then turned to Endy who was groaning, running his hand through his hair in a very perturbed manner. Then he turned to her, some sadness she found to her bewilderment, in his eyes, along with resignation. He glared at Setsuna and she glared right back but stepped next to him and bowed her head slightly. What happened next startled Sere to the core and let her know right away, she wasn't just a princess in this world.  
  
The Rose Prince and Princess faced her with a solemnity of imperial deference.  
  
And knelt before her.  
  
"We pledge to you on our honor as the masters of the roses, our loyalty. It is our promise to protect you always from harm, for it is you who will save our world from eternal damnation and exile," they paused and then finished with a resolute ending that Sere had no intention of arguing with...yet:  
  
"For you, Princess Serenity, are the Angel of Light."  
  
Sere gaped at them.  
  
This was too strange, too unlikely to be real. There was no way in her world that this could be true. But they weren't in her world anymore.  
  
And apparently if they didn't succeed she never would be.  
  
Endy stood slowly, as did Setsuna, each looking for some kind of affirmation on Sere's part, no matter how reluctant.  
  
She gulped tentatively, unsure of her voice at that moment and...  
  
Nodded.  
  
This was apart of her Fate apparently.  
  
  
  
  
  
And she was no one to argue with Fate.  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
  
  
OKAY, THIS CHAPTER IS UP! YAY LET'S CELEBRATE!  
  
I shall NEVER give up on this story NEVER. So don't you worry at all. It just takes me longer because this story I am planning to actually try and get published, and with school and work and other stories in the works, it's often difficult.  
  
But don't worry. I am glad you all like it enough to review.  
  
REVIEW again to get the next chapter and please, I beg you all, I love you for you reading my story and appreciate at it immensely, but please, be patient with me and be faithful, this story will continue until the very end!  
  
So then, where was I?  
  
Oh yes, please REVIEW. ^_~  
  
-Kaji Hikage 


	9. Chapter Nine

[FINALLY.GOD.I KNOW.]  
The Rose Prince: Chapter Nine  
Sere twiddled her thumbs in an anxious manner, shuffling her feet as well. It had been only a day or two in this strange new world and here she was, feeling oddly comfortable. Why so strange? I should be upset, worried, homesick, she argued with herself.  
  
But somehow she wasn't.  
  
The ever present Endy and Setsuna might have very well had something to do with that but, well, you know, maybe not.  
  
Setsuna eyed the girl with minor hints of interest. Now that she had been around Sere for a while, Setsuna found slight difficulty in believing that she could ever be The Savior, the Angel of Light they had waited for. Sure she looked the part but, looks were nothing contrasted with what she must really be capable of to save them.  
  
In a grudging manner, Setsuna had begun to be fond of the princess, regardless of what she 'said.' Anyone could tell from the protective manner in which, she behaved that Sere would always be able to rely on Setsuna's fealty, as much as she could on Endy's.  
  
Endy.  
  
Endymion, Prince of the Roses.  
  
Sere repressed an empty laugh, my knight in shadowed armor.  
  
"Sere."  
  
Ah speak of...  
  
"We should get going," his voice was more than a little anxious and Sere quirked an eyebrow in question at that. Endy stared down at her, some inner turmoil obviously fighting itself within him, his brows knit in a rather un- princely fashion.  
"You shouldn't make that face. It'll get stuck that way," Sere decided on, smiling at him and she was rewarded with the relaxing of his facial muscles from a rather intense frown to a calmer expression of contemplation.  
"Right, I'll remember that," he smirked, not unkindly and held out his hand to her. It was hardly necessary. The ground was flat as paper and she had exchanged her lovely dress for...more practical attire so she wouldn't be tripping on any hems.  
  
But she accepted that proffered hand and they began to walk in the direction of only Endy knew where, and maybe Setsuna.  
  
Setsuna for her part wore an uncharacteristic scowl on her face as she half trudged, half strode behind them to make an interesting combination that resulted in a slumped walk. She sighed. Ever since Endy had found her, she kind of thought of him as her savior, her personal savior, hers. It was odd having this very, very different girl drop in on them and add a third wheel to an already teetering cart. Her brow furrowed slightly in thought; it didn't help that the girl had apparently known him before. They could only have been seven...or somewhere there about. Setsuna was never good with numbers when she was internally venting explicit confusion.  
  
Still, the girl, this Sere, this Princess Serenity was nice.  
  
She was nice.  
  
And because Endy liked her and she seemed to like Endy, Setsuna would try and like her too. A voice inside her already argued that she did like Sere and that, that was why she brought her the change of clothes without waiting for the request, why she had given her extra food rations from her own portion without anyone noticing. I do not, her other internal self growled, refusing to believe that she too was falling fast under the charm of the little princess.  
  
They walked a long ways.  
  
It might have been hours; it might have been days; in this world, so displaced from anything Sere had ever imagined, who could tell? Somehow she didn't mind. The hand in hers was more comforting than she acknowledged. She was perhaps, too innocent and oblivious to notice that his touch was that which kept her from shaking all over like a leaf in a tumultuous wind. To notice that when he smiled at her, it wasn't the same smile that she remembered from childhood but something a little closer to the ever-present warmth in her heart for him. Or maybe it was the same and she simply saw more of what she wanted to see in it now than before.  
  
Whatever the case, Sere was almost eerily compliant and composed about the whole situation.  
  
"Stop." His voice was purposefully hushed and Sere did as she was told. She knew no other way but his in this world, at least for now.  
  
Their surroundings had morphed from a forest to the outskirts of an approaching city it seemed, or village...  
  
With one monstrous castle right in the center.  
Sere gaped. Even her castle was not so grand or large. It had to be ten of her castles put together as far as size and when Sere tried to tick of the amount of things and people it would take to run a place like that, well, her mind went a bit on overload. Endy's blue eyes understood. He had felt the same way the first time he saw it. Now it was just standard for him, normal, average.  
  
Setsuna for her part yawned.  
  
She had practically lived there for a time, so it was nothing spectacular to her. Still, she secretly found kind amusement in the Princess's open astonishment and chuckled lightly, stifling it as soon as Endy's disapproving stare came her way.  
  
They were after all, ahem, supposed to be silent.  
  
If any of them spoke it would disrupt the spell Endy desired to weave in order to get them to the palace faster and then they might end up in some rotting wasteland, or worse...town square.  
  
Town Square here was where everything of importance was announced because everyone was there.  
  
And it was not time for anyone else to know quite yet how close their savior was. Sere. They might mob her or worse.  
  
So they kept clear of the city itself as Endy composed an intricately woven spell in his head for them to follow, like a pathway to the castle, hiding them, cloaking them from all vision that was normal.  
  
"Don't let go," he whispered, sending slight shivers down Sere's spine as his breath brushed her neck, inadvertently.  
  
And they were gone in nothing.  
  
No smoke, no flashes, nothing.  
  
They were just...gone.  
Sere's eyes winked open and she suppressed a groan. It seemed she was doing a lot of this waking up in a new place lately and it was beginning to wear on even her own nerves. It just wasn't a normal thing. Covering her lips as they stretched in a slight yawn, she propped herself up on her elbows, staring about.  
  
She was in a room, on a very comfortable bed with amazing lighting, a soft glow from the late afternoon light sweeping in through the translucent blue curtains in the tall windows. Much of the room was blue-fashioned Sere now noticed and admired the choice taste the decorator seemed to have possessed. It was in no way gaudy and yet at the same time, in every way affluently grand.  
  
The floor was carpeted in a thick royal blue and it seemed even the spotless mirror on the vanity had a transparently blue tint to it. Sere's sigh might have echoed if it hadn't been so soft. She was certain she was in the palace. Where else?  
  
Ignoring the slight twinge in her stomach, which Sere blamed absently on lack of food, she swung her slender legs over the side of the bed and touched her feet to the soft carpet as she stood slowly. Apparently no one had changed her clothes, for she still wore the attire Setsuna had provided for her, practical leggings and a dress/skirt type of over-top that made movement easy. The thing she did fully acknowledge being how grateful she was no one had changed her clothes while she slept. And that was comforting.  
  
Glancing around, Sere tentatively approached the ceiling-high door, presumably the exit from her room, framing in a lovely silver and pearl white. Hand softly gripping the doorknob, she turned and peeked out.  
  
The royal corridors were positively empty.  
  
Smiling softly, Sere decided without much forethought, to explore. She felt like a child again as she quietly closed her door behind her with a faint click and let her feet pad themselves down the now red carpeted hallways, taking her wherever they willed and hoping they had some idea of where that was.  
  
She certainly didn't.  
----------------------------------------------  
  
ARGH. AND YOU THOUGHT THIS STORY WAS DEAD. HA. Never.  
  
But it is choppy I know. I apologize but the death threats for not updating were getting kinda...graphic in my Inbox..ehehe...so here is my lousy chapter nine. Most DEFINITELY going to be revised when I get the time.  
  
But review please, don't be angry. I hope my writing isn't totally abysmal and disappointing...  
  
*dodges rotten fruit as people chuck it at her randomly throwing heavy blunt objects like refrigerators at her too...*  
  
-A sheepish and apologetically pathetic Kaji-chan with SCHOOL WORK UP TO HER EARS...and that's just ONE course...ew... 


	10. Chapter Ten

_The Rose Prince_

_Chapter Ten_

_

* * *

_

The trouble with exploration is that is just that: exploration. As such, it is not only feasible that one may find one's self terribly, irreversibly and undeniably lost, but it is mostly and entirely certain that after rounding this many corners and walking down that many corridors...well, one will in fact be, terribly, irreversibly and undeniably lost.

Sere crossed her arms and stopped in the middle of the fiftieth hall she'd been down—it could've been the fifteenth, but as far as she was concerned it mattered little. Lost was lost and she was just that. It occurred to her that she might call out and surely someone would rush to aid her as a guest, but she did not feel secure here, for all its sheer grandeur and even for the fact that it was apparently where Endy spent much of his time. It was in no way hers and she was more than a stranger; it would not have been inaccurate to say in this world, she was an alien. Completely foreign and uncertain of how she ought to conduct herself, Sere maintained the silence as she pushed onward, supposing that maybe this hall only _looked_ the same and was actually a different one that would lead her a different way.

"Serenity," a voice came over her shoulder as a hand landed gently on it and Sere whirled around, donning a perfect deer-in-headlights imitation that quickly dissolved with a relieved sigh.

"Setsuna," she breathed, mentally whapping herself for her ridiculous jumpiness as said woman eyed her a little questioningly.

"You feeling okay?" Setsuna's garnet eyes dared her to lie and Sere was glad she didn't have to since those same eyes, she was certain, could pinpoint said lie to the floor with lots of well-versed nails.

"Mm, yeah! I just got um, lost," the feeble answer brought Sere to looking at her feet and Setsuna rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry about it. I'm lost half the time and I've been here for years. Come on, I'll take you to your prince," Setsuna said, careful to have no edge in her voice. It was not the princess's concern, not the savior's concern, what her personal entrapments were. She stifled a derisive chuckle. They were hardly even her own concern! She paused when she heard no footsteps behind her and looked over her shoulder, quirking an eyebrow. "Problem?" Sere scurried to catch up and shook her head, following in silence.

Her prince? Serenity could only wonder if the rose prince could ever be anyone's at all.

"Setsuna?" Her voice echoed uncomfortably as they continued to walk.

"Yes, Princess?"

"You don't have to call me that," Serenity whispered.

"Would you rather me call you different?" Setsuna inquired, a probing glance sent her way.

"Serenity is fine," she replied and Setsuna nodded her understanding.

"Setsuna?" she asked again.

"Yes Princ...Serenity?" The crimson-eyed guardian corrected herself carefully.

"Thank you," Serenity smiled softly and Setsuna returned it, kinder than she had done so far.

This angel of light certainly made it impossible not to like her, one way or another, the guardian mused gently and gestured for Sere to follow her through a set of gold-gilded doors.

The first impression Sere got was one of immenseness—there was simply no other word for it. This main room of sorts seemed too large for even the castle itself to encompass and the newly dubbed 'hikari no tenshi' found herself gaping at the high and wide alabaster ceilings that contrasted with the ebony marble of the vast, reflective floor. She was very aware of the clicking of Setsuna's heeled boots on the marble as she led her across the way to a very simple but no less regal throne of matching black likeness. On it sat Endy, or Endymion as they called him here.

His chin rested unhappily on his right hand and Sere wondered at the unhappy expression, following his troubled gaze. It landed on another young man, a handsome one admittedly, tanned with what seemed to be platinum blond hair that fell well past his shoulders. He wore almost military-like attire, tailored to his broad shoulders and tapered waist, crisp, clean and very...official looking. Sere noted he looked equally as bothered as Endy and nearly ran into Setsuna who had stopped suddenly for some reason.

"But my liege, you cannot mean it," the unnamed man said, anger evident in his tone but politely checked to not go beyond tone, even as his hard ice eyes flashed. A sigh was audible as Endymion rubbed his temples.

"I've told you General, it's not a choice that is up to me. It so happens that I may regain something of my own in this path, yes, but the path must be walked whether or not I have anything to benefit from it," the bothered prince said patiently with the inflection of one in need and requirement of cooperation. The general frowned still.

"My liege..." he began but did not go beyond that and Sere noticed his hands clench at his sides as if he was fighting a war with himself. When his hands relaxed at last, it was his turn to sigh and as he turned his head, he caught Sere's curious gaze. Embarrassed at being caught staring, she averted her eyes, a soft pink blush knitting across her pale cheeks. The general arched a thoughtful brow and turned back to his prince. "Very well, if it is as you say then, my liege," he bowed and turned to exit on his heel, cape slung over one shoulder flapping with the crispness of his movement.

"General Malachite," Endymion stood from his throne now, one foot one step lower on the dais than the other. The white-haired man turned. "Your cooperation is most appreciated. It will not be forgotten, my friend." Malachite only bowed again in response but on closer inspection, one could detect the slightest upward curve of his lips. On his way to the two gilded doors she and Setsuna had just come in through, Malachite stopped to her right, making Serenity tense just slightly.

"We are grateful to you, tenshi," was all he said before sweeping out of the room like a cool evening wind.

"Sere," Endy's conflicted look dropped from him like a veil as he descended the dais completely to encircle her with his strong arms and she sighed. Maybe everything would be alright. With Endy so near she felt nothing could be quite so bad. Setsuna, for her part, let her eyes wander far from the warm embrace so as to curb the strange and unsettling pull of her own heartstrings. Some things were best left ignored and she with her crimson eyes and black, almost green hair, and knowledge of much more than any one person should have to bear alone, was wise enough to know that much. She did nothing that might disturb the pair's affection as it would have been easy to do; drop a pin, cough, just say something. No, she did none of those things.

She would let the path take its course, just as Endy had said not moments before. It was theirs to walk, and if they did not walk it, it would crush them.

"Endymion, who was that?" Serenity asked, pulling away and Endymion let his arms drop reluctantly back at his sides. He didn't know exactly what had possessed him to act so suddenly; he wasn't the type for nonchalant displays of such obvious affection, not usually. But somehow with her…with Sere...Serenity...it felt right.

"That was my head General and good friend, Malachite," Endy said and Sere nodded 'ah' as he did, noting vaguely how Setsuna seemed to be off in her own world, entirely fixated on the marble swirls in some of the walls. Endy seemed to have noticed too.

"Su?" he placed a hand on her shoulder gently and Setsuna jumped both at the sound of her long unused nickname and the simple sound of his voice being concerned...for her. Sere watched, confused and then realizing it must be a nickname felt something akin to envy sneak up in her, but she quieted it quickly. He had a nickname for her too after all, what was there to be worried about?

The anxiousness in his blue eyes, focused completely on the rose princess gave Sere a hint as to exactly what to be worried about, but she ignored it.

This was silly.

"Apologies, sire," Setsuna said automatically and then, "I forgot myself."

"What troubles you?" he asked and he asked it with such genuine compassion that Setsuna almost told him; what she'd seen, what she knew...what was to come.

But she knew her duty well, as rose princess...and something more that would be revealed in due course.

But not yet.

"I am tired," she lied to him and he did not suspect her in the least of this small treason.

"You may retire if you wish," he suggested and she nodded, slipping out of the room almost imperceptibly, but for a soft click of the two grand doors behind her.

"Endy, what is the purpose of your angel of light?" the soft voice he knew well asked and he did not miss the apprehension in it, indeed, the fear. The prince felt his heart do odd things as he turned to face Sere, his Sere, from so long ago. Not unlike when he'd seen her at her sixteenth year gala, he was dumbstruck by her loveliness—the pearl waves of hair making her moon-pale flesh glow and her eyes were luminous pools of diamond blue.

It was enough to make any man stare...even a prince.

"Endy?" Her prompt broke his trance.

"The angel of light," he began, gesturing for her to follow him as he walked toward his throne, "...is a part of a long-known prophecy. It was until two years ago nothing more than that but lately this world has been crumbling at its edges, chaos masses breaking out in strange ways and it seems that prophecy, long-dormant will yet be manifested," and here he offered her a weak smile that seemed to say 'though I wish almost it wouldn't.' Serenity simply implored him to continue silently, vivid eyes never straying from his form and Endymion found he could not deny her anything, much less what little clarity he himself had. He walked past his throne, which confused Serenity but she followed him just the same with one friendly 'come on' hand motion from her prince. She trusted him. As she followed, she watched as he pulled a candle holder on the wall 180 degrees and an entry to what looked like a passage appeared. She felt her eyes grow wide more than she felt the notion of surprise, and proceeded somewhat dumbly as Endymion gently took her hand in his and pulled her forward, explaining further, "It is said an angel of light from a world not our own will be brought to remedy the strife and I quote: _flaxen hair a crystal white, with the hands and heart of a healer, she will come by way of winged time, and your savior will be her._"

Serenity stopped, pulling her hand abruptly out his hold and Endymion's brow creased. Had he done something to scare her?

"I cannot do this," she whispered hoarsely and turned to run but the prince, having already assessed her frightened state was ready and softly but effectively held her to him, keeping her from a frantic escape—which would never have worked anyway since Setsuna would surely catch the little princess.

"But Sere," he began. She shook her head wildly and almost thrashed against him, to his secret horror and worry. What had come over her? She'd been fine not long ago, absolutely compliant...so...?

"Endy, I cannot do this. I do not know how, I...I wanted to help but...but..." she broke off here and it was only by her own strength of virtue and plain old stubbornness that she kept from weeping, but she did and settled for a sigh.

"Sere, you don't have to know 'how' I just...we, just need you to try...please? You are our only hope," he said kindly as he could to her, wrapping his arms closer around her to now embrace her rather than just hold her in place.

"I am afraid," she admitted unhappily and he held her tighter, allowing her to rest her head back against the solid warmth of his chest.

"I know, but things will become clear in time, my princess, and I shall be there beside you on your journey, wherever it may take you," he said as comfortingly as he could manage and turned her around to face him. "Understand?" he tilted her chin up so she might meet his gaze.

"I understand," she nodded and then, "Promise?" He felt surprise, despite all the insanity that had been transpiring lately, surprised he could still feel surprise, in fact. Did she doubt him?

"Promise," he smiled down at her and she offered a softer one of her own in return.

"Now come, princess. I still want to show you something," his smile transformed into an unabashed grin and Sere recognized in him the little boy she'd run into in the gardens so long ago. He was rakish suddenly, youthful and mischievous in a good and charming sort of way and her heart was full with him again, having found that which she at first thought was only a memory of him. Taking his hand, she let herself be led forward.

The first hint of familiarity was the trickling of water...steady and gentle, like liquid crystal. The second was the distinct smell of roses—intoxicating, exotic...wild, with a thickness to the scent that was like velvet. Absently she let her hand slip out of Endymion's as she overtook him and hurried ahead and out of the passage to find herself in the garden of her dreams.

And there were roses...so many roses. White, yellow, pink, purple, phoenix-orange and flame-red, vermillion and that dark, bloody crimson...all in what seemed to be their prime, petals partially unfurled though not entirely in bloom. Almost stumbling under the heady mix of the rose scents, Serenity turned slowly to survey her surroundings, edging over to the trickling pool of water, clear as day and still as glass. And already knowing what she would probably see, she brought her tapered fingers to the edge of the fountain's stone ledge, and sat on it, turning her gaze downward to meet her reflection.

She was of course still wearing her gown from the gala...and it was her dream made real, the moon reflected in the upper corner of the pool, full even though she knew it to be day. Vaguely she recalled that in her dream it was also too bright to have been night and wondered why she had not found this an oddity, but brushed it aside as a polite cough rocked her from her reverie. Turning, she met Endymion's inquisitive eyes with an apologetic shrug.

Endymion paused. He did not want to press her...she had just expressed a great and deep fear to him. So, much as he had questions, much as he wished to ask them, he refrained and simply shook his head as if to say, 'okay' and extended his hand to her.

Serenity's breath caught. Here was where she always woke, broke into morning to find herself back in her own bed, covered in her own sheets, windows slightly letting light through as Luna would curl around her feet.

A purring noise made itself known just as that familiar warmth rubbed affectionately against Serenity's leg, making her skirts rub in a tickling manner against her skin. She giggled and looked down to meet Luna's stare, which to her amusement, seemed almost indignant.

"I'm sorry, Luna, dear...I did not forget you. Don't think I did," she buried her face with equal affection against Luna's neck and the feline responded favorably, curling then in her princess's lap, deigning to forgive her, provided the attention did not lag.

Now, Endymion wasn't sure, he had never felt the stirrings of jealousy before. He'd never had a reason to. In the past years it had become apparent that he was a handsome young man, and royalty more than that, so he was never short of admirers, and he never quite returned any of those admirations. It was never an issue. But with Sere...he felt some silly but real part of him frown as the black cat with the crescent on its forehead cuddle with her.

But jealous, of a cat?

He bit back a snort. Surely not.

Instead he opted to sit beside Serenity.

"Do you like it?" he waved at the gardens and she nodded vigorously.

"It is of my dreams," she said and recounted the dream she had told the girls not long before.

"The angel of light...you really are," he said in more of a whisper than he'd intended and found he had to tear his eyes from the crystalline princess beside him, fixing them on the overgrown stone grounds of the garden. His heart was doing strange, strange things and he did not trust himself not to do something stupid.

Part of him was miffed at this; why did years have to make such a difference on his feelings? Why did things change so? He wanted Sere back, the little girl he could make fun of and he wanted himself back, Endy who would make fun of her and then they would traipse around like the companions they were, caring for the roses and telling stories. But no, that wasn't right. She was right there beside him and he was right there beside her and what he wanted...what he hoped one day she might want...

Well...he wasn't sure but it had to do with something about how when he looked at her, she seemed new to him again.

He couldn't put a name to it, but there was something different in the way the light sparkled in her irises and the grace in the curve of her neck had become more apparent with these extra years, the finely chiseled nature of her cheekbones bringing that softly regal look to her that only a princess could command.

No name to it, but it weighed on him strangely and so he looked at the ground rather than at her, which Serenity noticed, even if she did not know his reasons. Politely and tactfully, she did not ask him about his pointed avoidance of her gaze. She trusted he had his reasons, as always.

"Endy, what is the journey you and Setsuna keep speaking of?" she asked.

"I am not certain but I do know it has to do with finding a crystal," Endymion said and it was almost apologetic. He felt he owed her more but truly, he did not know more than that.

"I see," she said slowly, understanding his apology but not quite settled all the same.

"We will be leaving tomorrow morning," he added and she looked up at him, startled. He still wasn't looking at her though, so he did not see her eyes widen as they did.

"Tomorrow?" she echoed, feeling very dumb.

"Tomorrow, I'm sorry it's so soon Sere, but...we should have left today in truth," he said and when she looked as if she'd question him, he held up a hand, still not meeting her stare, "I know, you don't know what to do. But neither do I, Serenity." His use of her full name quieted her sufficiently as she felt her heart ache slightly. "...we don't have time to wait and puzzle it out first though. We must go and hope we can figure it out well enough along the way," he said and then, daring to turn to her, his eyes softened at her frazzled expression. Truly it was a lot to handle...so soon, so fast, so...not what she had asked for.

But it was what prince and princess had received; he a chance to save his parents, long thought lost, and to save his kingdom, slowly dissipating at the corners and edges; she a chance to join the two worlds she lived in—one in her waking hours, one in her dreams.

He blinked as he felt a warmth settle over his hand and his eyes fell to find Serenity's hand gently laying on his own.

"I am still afraid," she said and his heart failed him at causing her so dark an emotion as fear, but then she said also, "But I will do this...I will, Endy."

And his heart felt strengthened once more by her resolve as he found himself wondering how he would ever have done this alone knowing the truth:

He couldn't.

But then there was the other truth he now knew, the truth he knew because of her...because of Serenity...Sere...because of her, he wouldn't have to.

* * *

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